Over The Bend
by Rannaty
Summary: Wirt was getting lost again. He felt his own mind turning on him, loosing what he thought he knew. In a desperate attempt at getting answers, he finds Gravity Falls and Dipper, an odd, possessed man. The answers aren't what he wanted to hear, and Dipper and his demon are another thing entirely. Cipherpinescone.
1. Loosing Sleep

A/N: This is my first chaptered story in a very long time. I'm looking for a beta if anyone's interested.

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The Gravity Falls Library had a new wing thanks to an anonymous donator.

Unsure where to begin, Wirt picked a random book from the shelf, titled "Creatures of The Old World: Folklore and Hearsay Part 1". It was black with gold lettering and a triangle symbol with an eye in the middle. The Eye of Providence? Was he about to dive into some conspiracy stuff? Or have a religious experience?

He sat down to read in a secluded corner. The table of content told him nothing. Who was he kidding, coming here? He had no idea if any of the content was helpful or relevant. He was far from a paranormal expert. So he had some personal experience, that didn't mean anything.

"What are you doing Wirt?" A question he had asked himself time and again ever since the reoccurring nightmare had started. Ever since he decided to do something about it.

Every night, for the past month and a half, he had dreamed of losing Greg to the branches, the cold, the lantern with its dancing flame. He had considered going back to therapy, it had helped last time, but then came the whispers. Anything else he could have written off as stress related, contacted his therapist, and hashed it out with her. The nightmares were gray and silent, the whispers insistent and vivid. During waking hours.

Hearing things could have gotten him declared insane. Maybe he was.

The book had no mention of voices so far. It was mostly accounts of encounters with the supernatural. Stories of how someone's great grandmother's gardener's niece had seen fairies or had a conversation with a spirit. Despite that, Wirt didn't dare skip any tales. Someone somewhere had had to survive The Unknown before, right? He couldn't be the only one.

Maybe the whispers were a latent side-effect brought on by certain life circumstances. Like struggling to get your degree, having difficulty finding a publisher for your poetry, having a falling out with your roommate because you woke them up with your screaming for a month before they moved out, forcing you to move too when you couldn't afford the rent on your own. Just normal life things.

Somehow, in the middle of everything wrong with his life, Wirt had stumbled on information about the Gravity Falls Library, and how it had a "legit" demonology and supernatural section. So he had uprooted himself and moved to Gravity Falls, where rent was cheap and the neighbors weird. Every time he thought about his first ever rash decision, he felt nauseous. What if this amounted to nothing? What was he doing?

The hopeful response to the later was "getting answers", the pessimistic "getting more lost". Wirt was partial to both. Though, the nightmares didn't bother him as often here, and he hadn't heard a single whisper since arriving to the small town. That had to be a good sign.

By the time the library closed, Wirt had gotten through the first three books of the folklore part of the series. No mention of The Unknown so far. He would ask the librarian for help tomorrow, now he just wanted to sleep.

The nightmare didn't come that night.

Well rested for the first time in a long while, Wirt made his way back to the library. He had second thoughts about asking for help but it wasn't like he needed to tell his whole life story to ask after a book. He would just ask if the librarian knew if there was any mention of The Unknown.

Psyching himself up as he walked to the front desk, Wirt took a deep breath and went for it.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you knew any books in the supernatural section that-"

"Hello, stranger!" He was interrupted with an arm thrown on his shoulders, dragged away from the desk. The librarian smiled at his assaulter as he was pushed between bookcases.

"What are you doing, let go of me," Wirt stage whispered. They were in a library, yelling felt wrong. His attacker let go, and raising his hands in a non-threatening gesture, backed up a couple steps. He was a man around Wirt's age , brown eyes, brown hair, stockier than Wirt but shorter. Wirt glared at him, not at all taken in by his disarming smile.

"Sorry, man. I just didn't know how to approach you," the man said.

"So you decided the best course of action was grabbing me out of nowhere?"

The man rubbed the back of his neck, awkward. "Yes? I mean, not exactly." He glanced around. "Can we talk? We know what you're looking for and I think I can help."

Wirt raised an eyebrow at the "we". Were there more of... Whatever this man was. Was he in a gang? A cult? Wirt's eyes widened. Was he a drug dealer?

"Listen, if you're selling something, I'm not interested," Wirt informed in his most polite whisper-yell and started backing away, slowly. He just wanted information. He didn't need to get mixed up in a drug ring, or a cult, or a group of shut-in lumberjacks if the way this man dressed was any indication.

"Hey, whoa, no." The man made soothing motions with his arms, as though trying to calm a spooked animal. He even hunched to make himself look smaller and less threatening.

"Nothing like that, I promise. I realize that was a terrible first impression, so let me try again." He held out his hand for a handshake. "Hello, my name is Dipper, nice to meet you. I'm a paranormal investigator and the author and/or translator of a few of the books on the supernatural section."

Wirt had stopped backing away somewhere during the introduction and was eying Dipper's hand varily.

"You really should've opened with that," he said, meeting Dipper's eyes but not taking his hand.

"I know. I'm so sorry."

After another moment of hesitation, Wirt accepted the handshake. "Wirt. Nice to meet you, I guess."

It must have been a trick of the light but for a second it looked as if Dipper's eyes had gone yellow. Wirt let go of his hand, blinking. A pair of brown eyes blinked back at him.

"Uh, so a paranormal investigator. What does that entail, exactly?" He was seeing things, that's always an excellent sign.

"Let's sit down," Dipper gestured to a desk and a pair of chairs in a reading area behind Wirt. It was surrounded by bookcases with only a couple narrow corridors between shelves leading to it. Wirt realized that he had been backing himself into a corner. Good thing Dipper had calmed the situation down before he had time to make a fool of himself.

They sat on opposite sides of the desk.

"So, basically what I do is, I find and catalog supernatural creatures and phenomena, help with hauntings and such, keep an eye out for the unusual," Dipper explained.

"And write and translate books?"

"That, too. I compile different sources, check for legitimacy, and translate if needed." He shrugged, as though all of that wasn't a big deal. "Unrelated, but I also run a local tourist trap during the summers with my sister, whenever she can make it."

Wirt stared, impressed but attempting to hide it. This man did sound like the kind of person who could help him. There was something about their initial meeting still bothering him, though. "You said you know what I'm looking for," Wirt said, his mildly impressed stare turning watchful. "What did you mean? How do you know?" A thought occurred. "Are you psychic?"

Dipper took his hat off to scratch at the faded pine tree symbol. "Not exactly?" He glanced back at Wirt, looking like he wasn't sure where to take the conversation.

Still a little irritated with being manhandled and vary of his new acquaintance, Wirt snapped, "Are you asking me if you're psychic?" He immediately felt bad when he saw Dipper flinch. This man hadn't done anything to him, beyond being bad at first impressions. All in all, Dipper seemed harmless, if a bit odd. And he had offered to help a complete stranger.

"Look, I," Wirt rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm sorry. I just, I've been going through some stuff." He was so good at words, wow. "I mean, the last month or so has been difficult, and I know that's no excuse to being rude but I don't understand what's going on and I don't know you." He sighed, offering Dipper a small, sad smile. "I'm just so tired and confused, with everything. I get irritable."

Dipper returned the smile but otherwise his face was vacant. His eyes were absent. He blinked and the look was gone.

"No, it's alright. I get it. You've been through things you can't explain and the stuff you took for granted, you no longer can. That would get to anyone." He grinned, tugging on his messy bangs. "Taking all this," he motioned around and at the direction of the front desk, "into account, you've been a saint. I would've punched me in the face already."

Wirt smiled, lowering his guard a little. "I'll give myself points for non-violence, then." Dipper looked alert and content again so Wirt steered their conversation back on course. "About my earlier question."

"Oh, right, yeah." Dipper fidgeted on his seat, still smiling but nervous. "That's a long and complicated story. I guess the simple version is that I have a partner who's very knowledgeable and he saw you here yesterday."

"Your partner saw me," Wirt repeated, confused. "And he somehow figured out what I'm after? Dipper, that doesn't explain anything."

Dipper held up a hand. "I know. Sorry. I'm bad at explaining this," he gestured at his head. "You should talk to Bill. He can be pretty helpful when he wants to be, and he wants to talk to you," Dipper said. He smiled, reassuring. "Fair warning, though: he's kind of a dick. Also don't make any deals."

Wirt was about to ask what that was supposed to mean when Dipper fainted on his chair. His head lolled back and his body went limb. Wirt jumped up, ready to go to him. Just as suddenly as Dipper had collapsed, he sat back up. He remained slouched on the chair, eyes open yet half-lidded. As he watched Wirt, a slow grin formed. Wirt felt like he was caught by a predator.

Dipper's eyes shone yellow.

"Have a seat, Pilgrim. We have a lot to discuss." Dipper pointed to the chair Wirt had bolted up from.

"Dipper?" It was his face, it was his voice but his whole demeanor had changed. Where Dipper before had been awkward and harmless, the Dipper now looked relaxed to the point of over-confidence, and the nagging voice in the back of his brain focused on survival, was telling Wirt to either do as told right this second or to run for his life. He hesitated. This was and wasn't Dipper. The nasally echo that followed his voice, the complete attitude change. He had seen something like this before.

"Demonic possession," Wirt whispered.

Dipper, or whoever this was, laughed, too loud for a library. "Wow, Pilgrim, you're a lot faster on the uptake than most of these flesh puppets," he made a wide, sweeping gesture with both arms. "I like you," he declared, crossing his fingers and leaning on them. "Pine Tree's right, you're adorable."

"Adora-?" Wirt sputtered. What was anything? Who was Pine Tree? He needed to sit down. Good thing there was a convenient chair right behind him.

"But enough about him and his weird taste in partners. You," whoever leaned closer and got even more comfortable, "have a tragic past related problem, and I'm interested in looking into it for you."

Wirt took a moment to gather his thoughts. It seemed that after the strange interlude, they were back on track.

"You're Bill, then? Dipper said you can help me?" It felt weird talking about Dipper to Dipper's face.

"The one and only! And Pine Tree's right, I can, with a few conditions. How've you been sleeping after coming to Gravity Falls?"

"Oh, I um." Dipper thought he was adorable? "Alright, I guess? No nightmare last night, and that's the first time in..." He hadn't had a good night's sleep since the nightmares started. "I haven't slept well in over a month."

"But your sleep improved after coming here."

Wirt started to answer but it had been more of a statement. Dipper had said that Bill was knowledgeable, but this was ridiculous.

"What kind of demon are you anyway?" In his experience, dealing with demons didn't end well for those directly involved. If Dipper was so nonchalant about a demon possessing him, maybe Wirt had judged him wrong. Maybe he was in a cult.

Bill watched him, yellow eyes going vacant for a moment. The grin eased into more of a confident smirk. "Lucky for you, dreams and the mind are my specialty. And if you're concerned about Pine Tree here," Bill waved a hand towards himself, or rather at Dipper's body. "He's fully on board with all this. I use his body to operate in this realm in exchange for infinite knowledge. It's a fair deal. Not one of my most profitable ones, but," Bill shrugged, the expression on Dipper's face almost fond. "I like the kid, he's fun. Now let me take a look at you."

Suddenly, he was right there, sitting on the desk in front of Wirt, holding Wirt's chin in a firm grip. The hold forced Wirt to look up at Dipper's face. His hands grabbed a knee on either side.

"Let go of me," he hissed.

"Relax, Pilgrim, I just need a tiny peek," Bill said, leaning far too close for comfort. "Also, whatever you do to this body hurts Pine Tree far more than it hurts me."

Wirt halted his plans of head butting him and getting out of there.

"Or rather, it hurts us about the same amount but I'll enjoy it, Pine Tree not so much," Bill continued and narrowed his eye at something he saw in Wirt's. "Oh this is interesting."

"What is?" Wirt tried to pull away. "And what's with you and touching people without permission?" It had been Bill who had grabbed him earlier, he was sure of it now.

Bill grinned. This close Wirt could see every tiny wrinkle that formed around his eyes. "Interacting with physical things is a treat." He chuckled and tapped Wirt on the temple. "It's a mess up here. You should really have it looked at."

That was enough. Wirt made to stand and shove him away.

"Stay still, Pilgrim."

Wirt stayed still. He frowned, flexing his fingers still on Dipper's knees. Bill's eyes held him. He couldn't look away, he couldn't move to leave. Eyes widening, he let out a whimper.

"You're in no danger from me. Pine Tree wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I hurt you. He's kicking up a fuss about not asking permission, already. I don't even want to imagine the shit storm if I did more than scare you. That kid knows some nasty demon repelling seals."

At that, Wirt found his voice, "Sounds like you're speaking from experience." He sounded shaky but at least he was capable of more than distressed noises.

Bill smirked. "Yup! I, heh, slipped up once. Pine Tree made me sleep on the couch, so to speak."

The mixture of intimidating and jovial was confusing. Wirt could deal with one of those, both were too much. He didn't know what to think of Bill. The lines blurred further because the demon was wearing Dipper's face. Dipper had been nothing if not nice to him, and Wirt wanted to like him. Bill was also being nice, according to his own words, in that he hadn't harmed Wirt. Yet. Wirt studied the demon's eyes; there was mischief but no outright malice.

"Aaand we're done!" Bill let go of Wirt and fell on him. Dipper hit his head on Wirt's, recoiling.

"Ow, that asshole," Dipper muttered, rubbing his forehead. Wirt, too, was nursing his head and cursing Bill under his breath. In all honesty, after his encounter with Bill, Wirt was nervous about facing Dipper. Just a moment ago, he had been held captive in those eyes. He hid behind his hand as long as he dared, and when he looked up, Dipper's eyes were brown and concerned.

"Hey, you ok?" Dipper asked. "I know Bill can be," he paused, "intense."

Now that Wirt was no longer touching Dipper/Bill, he didn't know where to put his hands. He settled on placing them on his lap, fingers folded.

"I'm fine, I think?" He wasn't in real physical pain but his thoughts were racing. His head was a mess. "What was that? What did he do?"

Dipper studied his face, searching for something. "I feel like I'm just apologizing all the time." His smile was tight, self-deprecating. "I'm sorry. I didn't have time to warn you properly. It's a sort low-grade possession. He can get in your head, partially, through physical contact. It's pretty easy to fight off if you're expecting it but you obviously weren't so, yeah. Sorry, again."

"A low-grade..." He needed time to think. This was too much, he was in way over his head. Wirt got up fast enough to get a head rush. He steadied himself with a hand on the desk. Getting help might not be worth being possessed. He wasn't sure, thoughts a jumbled mess powered by the fear of the unknown and The Unknown.

Wirt pushed himself away from the desk and out of Dipper's range.

"Are you sure you're fine? Wirt?" Dipper called after him.

"I-I just need to clear my head. So, uh, bye."

"Wirt, wait!"

He didn't stop until he was back in his apartment, the door locked.

The bed looked inviting. Despite sleeping well the night before, he was so tired. His head hurt.

Going through the medicine cabinet proved futile; he had used the last of his aspiring when he arrived in Gravity Falls. He had thought it had been the sun shining into his eyes as he had crossed the town boarder. It had been the worst headache he could remember.

The one he was having now wasn't nearly as bad so he settled for some tea. The pharmacy could wait. He needed peace and quiet. Going out, even just to run a small errand felt overwhelming.

He leaned his head on the warm tea mug, and breathed.

Dipper was right; Bill was intense. At the time he had handled it pretty well, he had been calm for the most part. How much of it had been Bill's influence? What he gathered from Dipper's explanation, Bill had been able to read his thoughts and influence his actions, to an extent.

And that absolute dick hadn't even told Wirt what he had found.

* * *

A/N: Thoughts?


	2. All In Your Mind

A/N: Here's chapter two for your reading pleasure.

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The night was restless. Wirt spent hours on the brink of sleep. A tree branch hit his window and he covered his face with the blanket like a child hiding from the monster in his closet. He was exhausted.

The branch kept striking the glass. Wirt curled into himself.

There wasn't even a tree in the yard.

' _There is only the forest._ '

"No," he whispered back. The blanket felt suffocating, it was too hot to sleep under the cover. Wirt kicked it off and rolled over to look out the window. Greg stared back at him.

He sat up, breath halting in his throat. Greg was well in his teens, this Greg was seven.

There were leaves in his lungs; he couldn't breathe.

Greg tapped on the window.

A leaf forced its way out of Wirt's mouth, there were tree branches growing from under the bed.

Greg tapped on the window.

When Wirt turned to face him, he caught on fire. The flame danced, the boy with it.

He was lying on the floor. Sunlight danced on the floorboards. It had to be at least noon. Wirt pushed himself up. There was no Greg on the window, no tree in the yard.

That hadn't been like any nightmare he had had before. He hadn't known he had been dreaming. He still wasn't sure he had been dreaming.

There was no avoiding it; he needed to find Dipper and ask what Bill had seen in his head. Dipper had mentioned running a tourist trap and a quick Internet search revealed that there was only one in town: The Mystery Shack. The website was new, with information on opening hours and dates, and a link to a web store. It sold "mystery" items, things with question marks, spooky bubble heads, snow globes. Along with the usual tourist junk, there was books about the paranormal, many of them the same ones he had seen at the library.

He looked up the address, checked a map and was on his way.

The Mystery Shack wasn't hard to find, being the sole building along a dirt road in the middle of the forest. He parked his car up front.

Going back to the library was always an option. He didn't have to do this. But there was no guarantee he would find anything on his own, and seeing how most of the sources were provided by Dipper, if he couldn't trust him, and by extension Bill, Wirt couldn't trust the books, either.

Taking leaps of faith wasn't his thing but he had taken a huge one by moving to the Falls. What's one more? Wirt had stalled long enough. Coming here had felt like the obvious solution moments ago, there was no reason to go back on that decision. He got out, locked the car, and headed for the front door.

There was no answer when he first knocked, so worried that he had been too careful, he tried again, harder. Nothing. He shifted his weight. Dipper had said that he ran the place, not that he lived there, so maybe...

The door opened. Dipper squinted at him, rubbing his eye and muttering something incoherent. He looked like he had just got out of bed.

Wirt cleared his throat, nervous. "Good morning. We, uh, we met yesterday, at the library. I'm sorry if I woke you."

Dipper looked more alert. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Long night, there was a thing, in the woods," he started to ramble but seemed to gather his thoughts. He glanced down along Wirt. It didn't feel like getting checked out, more like inspected.

"Man, I'm glad to see you in one piece and sane. You seriously had me worried, running off like that."

What was meant to be a laugh came out as something much more pathetic. "I don't know about the sane part."

"Oh." Dipper frowned. "Well, come on in. I'll go put on some pants and make us coffee."

Wirt followed directions to the kitchen, looking around. The house was a strange mix-and-match of old, fixed and replaced. The coffee maker and the fridge were shiny and chrome but the kitchen table looked like it was put together from many tables, with its mismatching legs and chairs. Parts of the wallpaper were replaced with different patterned patches. The floor looked redone.

He didn't have to wait long. Dipper pounded down the stairs and started the coffee. Both were unsure what to do or say next.

"So," Dipper ventured, "What happened after you left yesterday?"

"What makes you think something happened?" Wirt went on the defensive. Now that he was here, he would rather not rehash the events of his nightmare. Just the thought made him ill.

Dipper shrugged. "You're here. Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Wirt admitted. He felt stupid coming here, all of a sudden. He should just leave.

No.

"I need to know what Bill found in my head."

Dipper shifted on his spot against the counter. "I can ask him for you." He ran a hand through his hair, looking away. "But Wirt, if you want my help, you're gonna have to talk to me." When his eyes landed back on Wirt again, they were harder, contemplating. Wirt fidgeted in his chair. "Or, I could call Bill, you can ask him yourself and he can take a look at your head. It's completely up to you."

Neither of those options sounded good but they would get him answers faster than what he was about the suggest. "Or I could leave and continue my research on my own."

Dipper raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "You're free to do that, but if you thought that's the best option, you wouldn't be here."

They stared each other down until the coffee was ready. Dipper turned to get two mugs. "How do you take your coffee?"

"With milk and sugar."

Dipper brought the drinks over and sat down next to Wirt. Both sipped in silence. Wirt decided to be the one to break it this time.

"I had another nightmare last night." He glanced at Dipper who was looking at his over the rim of the mug. "It was horrifying, I thought this couldn't get any worse but..." He couldn't continue. Greg was still tapping on the window. How much did Dipper know? Had he communicated with Bill?

"So what are you looking for?"

"I guess I just want answers? I want to know what's happening." If he was going crazy. Wirt took another drink. He wasn't much of a coffee person but the drink hit the spot. He felt more alert and secure in his footing on reality. Idly, he wondered how much of that had to do with having someone to talk to.

Dipper looked lost in thought.

"It gave me a headache," Wirt stated. "After Bill had... read my mind," it felt weird to say, "my head started hurting. Is that normal?" He was asking if demonic mind manipulation caused headaches over coffee. This was his life now.

Dipper tapped on his mug as he thought. "Sometimes people get possession fatigue," he said. "They faint or feel tired after the spirit or demon leaves them. Headaches aren't the norm but it happens." He took a sip and turned more towards Wirt. "Though, what Bill did was very surface level. I didn't think it'd have any side effects."

Wirt had trouble swallowing. He stared at the cooling liquid without seeing it.

"Look at me for a bit, man," Dipper interrupted his non-thought. When Wirt turned to face him, his eyes were narrowed, searching. "May I?" he asked and despite Wirt not knowing what he wanted, he nodded his consent. Dipper placed a hand on Wirt's forehead to lift Wirt's eyelid with his thumb. He leaned close. Wirt felt Dipper's breath on his cheek, and his stupid, traitorous face flushed. Now was not the time.

Dipper moved to the other eye. Wirt concentrated hard on not leaning into his hand. It was difficult, not seeking physical comfort after realizing how much he craved it.

"Well," Dipper let go and leaned back. "Your pupils are a bit dilated but I don't see any signs of damage." He smiled. "I'm pretty familiar with Bill related headaches and it's my professional opinion that what you had wasn't one."

Wirt wasn't sure if Dipper was being merciful or genuinely oblivious because he was sure his cheeks were glowing pink. He took a drink from his cold coffee, more to hide than anything. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dipper's smile turn shy.

"I uh, I was wondering," Dipper paused for breath. He rolled his mug between his hands, focusing on that instead of Wirt. "Have you had lunch yet? I mean, I'm pretty sure it's lunch time and I haven't eaten anything yet so if you haven't either, we could go eat something, somewhere. Together."

Wirt emerged from behind his mug. Was he being asked out right now? He had always been bad at telling whether someone was friendly or flirty.

"It'd give you some time to think about what you want to do?" Dipper continued, even more nervous since Wirt hadn't said anything. He should get on that.

"Right, yes. I'd like that," Wirt said. "Both lunch and time to think, I mean."

"Great!" Dipper bounced up to take both of their mugs to the sink. He had gone from nervous to excited fast enough to give Wirt emotional whiplash.

"We can take my car," he offered.

Wirt decided that he would feel more comfortable in public, surrounded by people, so he drove them to the mall. It wasn't that he didn't trust Dipper; he was vary of the demon that came as part of the baggage. Though, Bill hadn't hurt him. And Dipper was on friendly terms with the demon? Wirt had never got the extent of their involvement. Was it a sort of business arrangement?

"You're over thinking it, Pilgrim."

He stopped in his tracks. They were in the middle of a crowded mall. There were witnesses. Wirt closed his eyes and took a deep breath before facing Bill. No freaking out this time.

"Hello, Bill. I thought I'd be spending time with Dipper today?" His voice didn't shake. Good.

Bill grinned but it was more amused than malicious. "There are contingencies that stop me from taking over when he doesn't want me to. Technically."

"Technically," Wirt repeated, deadpan.

"Loopholes, Pilgrim, there are always fun loopholes." Bill grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the nearest food vendor. "Anyway! Weren't you here for lunch? I love eating like a person!"

"Don't touch me." Wirt yanked his arm free. He glared, Bill smiled.

"You didn't mind when Pine Tree did it." The demon put his hands on his loan body's cheeks and fluttered his lashes. "You were all for his hands on you."

Wirt couldn't fight the blush or the nervous stammer. "T-that wasn't- I didn't- That was completely different!" He felt like an embarrassed teenager. "He asked permission, for one."

"May I drag you to that snazzy looking sandwich joint?"

"You may not."

"Well, that didn't go at all like I hoped it might."

Wirt threw his arms up in frustration. They were getting some stares; he didn't care. "You know what? I'm feeling much more like fries." Uncaring if the demon followed or not, he turned to march towards a booth advertising hamburgers and fries.

"That stuff with your head isn't just going to go away, you know," Bill called after him. When Wirt stopped and turned, the demon was examining his nails. "I wasn't kidding when I said it was a mess. It's going to get worse with time." Yellow eyes moved from his hands to Wirt. "That dream you had last night is only the beginning. You thought that was bad?" He grinned. "Oh boy, you're in for a real treat."

The sounds of bustling people around Wirt faded. He stood frozen in place, and all he could hear was his own heartbeat. "What, what did you find?"

Bill started walking over to the sandwich place. "Let's discuss it while we eat. I'll pay."

This wasn't a fight he could win; Bill had him. Wirt would just have to tolerate free food and company if he wanted to find out what was going on. He spent their time in line side eying his companion. They ordered, Bill paid, probably with Dipper's money. The demon tried to lead them to a corner table but Wirt was adamant that they sat where everyone could see them. The tables at the front were uncomfortably small. Wirt had to admit he wouldn't mind so much if he was with Dipper but as it stood, he was less enthusiastic.

He watched Bill shove sandwich in his face for a while before picking on his own. They had ordered the same thing. Or had Bill ordered for both of them? Wirt hadn't been paying attention.

"Come on, Pilgrim, don't be like that. What did I ever do to you, anyway?" Bill had finished his food and was contemplating his drink.

Wirt tore off a piece of bread. He didn't flick it at the demon like he wanted to. He was more mature than that. "You invaded my mind," he said. It was the most obvious answer. How did Bill not understand that wasn't right?

"Invaded," Bill scoffed. "Please. That was a gentle probe at worst. I was extra careful because Pine Tree asked me to be."

That gave Wirt pause. "You do what he says?"

"I don't take orders," Bill said. "But I can be persuaded." He winked.

Wirt almost choked on his soda. He coughed and hit himself on the chest a couple times. Bill laughed. After his airways cleared, he spent a moment in silence with his sandwich. He would not ask. There were some things he didn't need to know.

"So what did you find when you gently probed me?"

He realized his mistake when Bill smirked, about to say something. "Please don't go there."

The demon snickered but didn't comment. "I know Pine Tree told you it was surface level."

Wirt gave the affirmative.

"Whatever's in there is buried deep, so I don't have the full picture yet. But," Bill held up a finger. "If you let me in to poke around and examine the nightmare, I can find out more."

"So you barged in on Dipper and me to tell me you don't know anything and to make my life difficult?"

"Wow, you really think the worst of me, don't you? I'm flattered," Bill beamed. He looked so genuinely pleased that Wirt couldn't hold on to his annoyance. Everything was backwards and sideways when it came to Bill.

"I do know that you've something extra up there."

Wirt went still. Whatever humor he had found in the situation vanished, along with his appetite. He pushed the rest of the sandwich way. "Something extra," he repeated, slowly. Bill took the rest of his food and started munching on it.

"Yup. It's rare, but expect vivid nightmares and indecisiveness. Also, expect me to visit your nightmares, soon."

Wirt nodded. This was way beyond what he could handle by himself.

"I'll take that as permission. It should keep Pine Tree off my back." Bill finished eating and stole the last of Wirt's soda. "You owe me one now bye!"

Dipper caught himself before he face planted on the table. The soda in his hand spilled on their tray. He cursed and took a punch of napkins to prevent any further damage. Wirt barely noticed. He had something in his head. It was both a shock and a relief.

At least he wasn't going insane.

If Bill and Dipper could identify it, maybe they would be able to get rid of it. He could focus on writing again, go visit Greg. He missed his brother.

"Wirt?"

Dipper's voice broke him off his musings. He fixed a smile on his face, handing Dipper another napkin. There was some soda on his face.

"Bill is certainly," Wirt paused to choose his words, "an experience."

Dipper laughed, eyes fond, and Wirt once again caught himself wondering what the nature of their relationship was.

"He is that."

They left the mall soon after. Wirt insisted he drive Dipper back to the Shack. This time there was idle chitchat during the drive. Dipper kept sending Wirt worried glances but Wirt assured him that he was fine. He had promised himself he wouldn't freak out, and he had kept that promise. For the most part. His investigation was going somewhere; ultimately that had to be a good thing. He wanted answers, answers were on the way. The favor he owed Bill worried him but next to his other worries, it felt like such a small thing.

When they arrived at the Shack, he walked Dipper to the door. It felt like the polite thing to do.

"I guess this is where we part," Wirt said when he noticed Dipper hesitate.

"Yeah," Dipper rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, a bit sheepish. "So, that didn't go at all like I hoped it might."

Wirt looked down, shuffled his feet. "How did you hope it might go?" Probably without demonic possession, eating his own food, that sort of thing.

"I uh, had hoped to actually talk to you? To get to know you a bit better," Dipper said, uncertain. "You're an interesting guy, and Bill says you're 'difficult', which coming from him is practically high praise, so..."

Wirt didn't know how to feel about Bill liking him, but Dipper finding him interesting made warmth swell inside and travel to his cheeks. "Oh, um. In that case we should give this 'go somewhere and eat something', thing a second try."

Dipper's face looked flushed when he hid it behind the bill of his cap. "That sounds great." He sounded pleased. Wirt couldn't believe how cute he found the other man in that moment. It had been a while since he last noticed anyone.

"Alright, so, I'll be seeing Bill in my nightmares but I should give you my phone number." Wirt dug out a pen and a piece of paper, and scribbled on it. Not his best handwriting but Dipper smiled as he took the note so Wirt deemed it a success.


	3. Breaking The Mold

He got some writing done. It had featured more leaves and trees and fire than his usual stuff. Mischievous smiles, playing fast and loose with the truth. Not all of it was dark; the ones about forests had sunshine, a sense of relief among the pines.

The forest surrounding the town had a lot of pines.

Dipper had texted him so Wirt would have his number. It was a small gesture but it made him feel good, more secure. If something came up, he could contact an expert. Either Dipper or Bill would know what to do. He wasn't sure if calling for the sake of smalltalk was allowed. Was there some kind of a special milestone they had to pass before casual conversation and texting started? Were they friends? Had their lunch meant to be a date?

Wirt supposed mere acquaintances didn't blush and stammer as much as Dipper and he did while interacting.

The point was that he wanted to talk to Dipper. They had just parted that afternoon, and Wirt didn't want to come of as clingy. So he sat on his bed and wrote about trees.

It shouldn't be this difficult; he was a grown man. There was no reason he couldn't just be attracted to someone. True, he didn't have much history but there had been people, even after Sara. He had thought he would never get over Sara, his first love. There had been a couple more mature relationships, or attempts at relationships. Nothing he ever regretted leaving behind.

And here he was, pining after a man he had known for two days. He had just described Dipper as an evergreen in the winter of his life and that was awful.

He put the notebook away. It was the nerves and the ever present exhaustion. He groaned into his pillow. The phone on his nightstand displayed Dipper's name and number, like Wirt had seriously considered giving him a call. He grabbed the phone and scrolled to Greg's contact info instead, and shot a quick text to his brother, asking how he was doing.

The answer was immediate.

'All is well. Are you still being a hermit?'

Wirt smiled. "Still being a hermit," he said out loud as he wrote. The exchange went on for a while before he told Greg to go to bed. He fell asleep with his clothes on.

Tree branches wrapped around him, blocking his vision and air. He couldn't move. Despite being suffocated, dying, he didn't pass out.

He didn't wake up.

The world around him bled to gray. A single, bright point of color, a triangle with an eye, shone in the monochrome landscape. The branches no longer surrounded him. Wirt took a moment to look around.

His surroundings were frozen in place. The falling leaves hovered in the air, halted mid-motion. Greg, young and hollow eyed, stood in the distance.

"Hiya, Pilgrim!" the triangle spoke, tipping his top hat. Wirt squinted up at him before his eyes had a chance to adjust to the new source of light.

"Bill?" No way.

"Way! I told you I'd be paying you a visit." Bill's voice had more of an echo and it was more high pitched without Dipper's tones underlying it.

Wirt looked the demon over. It was a simple and clean shape, with the eye in the middle functioning as a face. "Is this what you actually look like?" he asked.

"It is! Pretty neat, huh?" Bill spun around in the air.

The picture on the cover of Dipper's books made much more sense now.

"Anyway, you can admire me later. I've got something to show you."

They traveled through the forest dreamscape, away from Greg. Wirt wanted to check on him, even though he knew the boy wasn't real. He felt protective. The last time he had seen Greg in a dream, his brother had caught on fire. This Greg looked relatively safe, so he let it be.

The forest faded. Wirt found himself in front of his childhood home in Lakeville. It was as he remembered it, distorted by nostalgia.

"What is this?" he addressed Bill, who had been strangely silent so far.

"It's your mind. This is where your memories are stored. Everything that makes you, you is in that house."

For a moment, it seemed odd that such a broad and abstract concept would manifest itself itself as something so comprehensible and organized. Wirt dealt in metaphors often enough to not let it phase him for long.

"In that case, I'm not sure I want you in there," he told the demon.

Bill smiled with his one eye. "Don't worry, I've already been there. I know all your embarrassing little secrets."

"How is that supposed to not make me worry?" Never mind the sleepless nights and the bone chilling nightmares, Bill was the worts thing that had ever happened to him.

Bill dismissed Wirt's worries with a wave. "The things you meat sacks are mortified by don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. You live for an instant of time and then you're forgotten, along with all your mistakes."

Wirt frowned at the demon in thought. He supposed that sounded about right. It made him feel better about all the embarrassing things he had done or said. They felt insignificant. Tiny specks of a tiny life. The thought of his lack of impact should have been depressing, but instead it freed him. he had come to terms with the fleeting nature of existence a long time ago. He had written countless poems about it.

Bill watched him, curios and pleased. Wirt knew Bill could read his thoughts in here; they were in his thoughts. He was disappointed it didn't work the other way around.

"You are something else, Pilgrim," Bill commented but didn't linger. Wirt followed him into the house.

Inside corridors lead to different directions. Doors and small hatches littered the walls and the ceiling. He could hear music coming out some of them. Bill hovered over to a large wooden door and opened it with a snap of his fingers.

Behind it was a hallway that reminded Wirt of a hospital. The doors had small, grated windows. They were labeled with scratchy, messy lettering Wirt couldn't make sense of. Leaves grew on them.

"Welcome to your subconscious!"

Wirt jumped, startled. He had been focused on the terrain and forgotten the demon's presence. In this form, Bill had even less of an indoor voice.

"As you can see, it's been redecorated."

Tree roots reached for them under some of the doors, others looked like they had been broken into. Wirt could see in through the cracks in busted door panels, he could smell burning. He didn't want to explore further.

"Can you just tell me what's in there?" he asked, voice shaking. "P-please, I really don't think I can continue."

The branches. The forest was growing in his mind. Wirt thought he knew what was lurking in the underbrush but he didn't want to.

Bill floated to a stop in front of him. The demon pulled a cane out of the thin air and leaned on it. "If I tell you, you can refuse to believe me and continue living in denial. You need to see it with your own limited vision," he explained, more patient and subdued than Wirt had ever seen him. It scared him more than anything.

"You know what's in here, you just don't want to acknowledge it," Bill continued.

A branch curled around Wirt's ankle. He yelped and tried to shake it off. It refused to budge. Bill's tiny hand settled on his shoulder. Without a conscious decision, Wirt placed his on top of it, drawing what comfort he could. It didn't have a temperature or a texture but Wirt knew the hand was there. The branch on his ankle tightened, another joined it.

A whisper from the deep, dark recesses of his mind, "Come, wayward soul, you have work to do."

Glowing eyes stared at him from the end of the hallway. Wirt's hold on Bill tensed. "I defeated you!" he yelled, voice breaking in a way it hadn't since his teenage years. "You can't be here!"

The Beast said nothing.

Wirt shook, whether from anger or fear, he didn't know. The hallway shook with him.

"Okay, I think this is enough for now," Bill declared and pulled Wirt with him.

"Come on, Pilgrim, before you break something. Time to wake up and face reality."

That was the last thing Wirt heard before he woke up on his bed, panting and sweaty.

He had the phone on his ear before he was fully awake.

"Wirt? What's wrong?" Dipper's voice sounded from the other end, and Wirt started coming back to himself.

"Oh god, what time is it? Did I wake you? I'm sorry, I woke you didn't I, I can just-"

"Hey, no. Wirt, calm down, ok?" Dipper interrupted Wirt's panicked rambling. "It's early but I was up, writing. You didn't wake me, don't worry. Now," there was rustling and a laptop clicking shut, "tell me what's wrong."

Wirt concentrated on his breathing, feeling himself relax. Bill had gotten him out of there, and this was Dipper. Dipper was safe.

"Bill came to see me, in my nightmare," Wirt started, trying to get his thoughts together. "He showed me, we went, I mean." He rubbed his face with his free hand. "Something happened to my brother and I when we were younger. We almost died and now... It never really went away." Wirt wondered how much Dipper knew, if Bill had told him. "I'd rather not tell you over the phone. Can you," he hesitated. "Can you come over? I'll text you the address."

Dipper gave the affirmative and they hung up. Before Wirt had time to tidy up and make tea, the doorbell rang. Wirt finger combed his hair on his way to the door. There was no taming the insistent bed head. He gave up and yanked the door open. Dipper looked out of breath and worried.

"Did you run here?" Wirt asked without thinking.

"What? No, I drove. I think I broke like, three laws on the way but you sounded awful." Dipper removed his hat to worry his hair, bashful. "So, I got here really fast and, yeah."

Wirt wanted to hug him. The need to hold another and to feel secure hit his gut like a fist. Instead he stepped aside to let Dipper in.

"I made tea, if you want some," he offered.

"Yeah, sure, tea sounds good." Dipper studied the simple living arrangement like he found it fascinating. Wirt wished he had known he would be having someone over. He could have at least hid the pile of dirty clothes on his bedroom floor.

They sat down with steaming mugs. Wirt told Dipper about that Halloween and his brother and Beatrice, and about The Unknown. Dipper let him talk without interruptions, eyes keen and focused, the tea forgotten in his hands. There was something about the single-minded interest that made Wirt go into more detail than he ever had before. When he was done talking, he felt lighter. Like a heavy burden he didn't know he was carrying disappeared.

Dipper stirred his cold tea, lost in thought.

"So this Beast, or an aspect of him, hitched a ride when you crossed back over," he muttered, more to himself. Wirt let him think, finishing his tea.

"I haven't seen anything like this before." Dipper looked at Wirt, apologetic. "I'll have to do some research, and consult Bill. It might take a while."

Wirt took his mug to the sink. "He said it was rare, Bill, I mean." He turned back to Dipper, smiling. "If this is the worst it gets, I think I can handle it for a while longer." The restless nights were eating at him, but he didn't need Dipper to know that. Not now when the man looked sorry for not having an immediate solution.

Dipper leaned back in his chair, relaxed. "Okay. But you have to let me get another shot at feeding you, man. It's the least I can do."

Wirt felt his ears warm. "Of course." It then occurred to him that he was still in the same clothes he had been wearing last night. "I need to shover and change first, though."

He made Dipper a new, warm cup of tea before disappearing to the bathroom. After showering, brushing his teeth and spending a moment wondering what to wear, he returned to the kitchen. Dipper had finished his tea and moved to stand by the window, looking outside.

There was a crash.

"Is that boy band stealing our trash again?" Wirt questioned, peering over Dipper's shoulder.

"I didn't think they'd make it through the first winter but they're thriving. I suspect Mabel, my sister, sneaks them food whenever she's here." Dipper turned towards Wirt, eyes fixed somewhere on his neck. A drop of water had fallen from his hair, Wirt could feel it travel down. Dipper's stare followed it until it dissolved on the collar of Wirt's shirt. Wirt swallowed, he mouth gone dry.

"So, ah, I'm ready to get going if you are," he said, but it came out more hushed than he intended. Dipper wet his lips and Wirt's heart sped up.

"Yeah," Dipper breathed before snapping out of it. "I mean, yes, let's go." He tore his eyes away from Wirt and headed for the door, in a hurry all of a sudden. "Food is awesome. I'm starving."

Wirt followed at a slower pace to give his heart a moment to stop hammering. He almost forgot his keys.

They made their way to an old diner. The nagging fear from earlier was still there but subdued by glances and shy smiled. It was getting replaced with a slow sort of warmth spreading from the point where Dipper playfully bumped their shoulders together. The new found feeling of peace was broken whenever Wirt said something that made Dipper laugh and his heart acted funny.  
Dipper was telling a story about a case with a malignant spirit of sorts when they sat in a booth.

"So the whole house caught on fire, just randomly, flames everywhere. The family had left because it's standard procedure, for me, to convince people to leave when it gets this bad but we're talking massive property damage here. And I've been sued for that before, so." Dipper paused to greet the waitress and for them to make their orders.

"Do you just call the fire department in situations like that, or?" Wirt prompted after the waitress left.

"Sometimes, yeah." Dipper shrugged. "This time I managed to talk my way out of it. You'd be surprised how much of my work is negotiating with people and creatures to come to an understanding." His smile turned crooked. "It's not all exciting monster chases and exorcism. A lot of the time it's me sitting someone down to tell them why building their garage on secret ground is a bad idea."

Wirt grinned. "You're basically a paranormal diplomat?"

"I need to put that on my business card."

The food arrived and they dug in. Wirt hadn't even noticed how starved he was. He had had a sandwich the day before and tea this morning.

"So what do you do? Anything not as exciting as it sounds I should know about?" Dipper asked.

"I write, poetry mostly. I think that's exactly as exciting as it sounds."

"That's amazing! My mind's way too linear for poetry. It's like, the most logical route from A to C is through B, you know?" Dipper explained. "I have nothing but respect for anyone who decides that to get from X to D, you need to pass a stream while carrying you dreams in you pocket, or something."

Dipper's excitement and interest were contagious. Wirt couldn't stop a snort from escaping. "Carrying you dreams in you pocket? Really?"

Dipper laughed. "Shut up, man. Just proving my point." He shoveled down his pancakes in good spirits.

Looking down at his food, Wirt admitted, "It's not that amazing, honestly. I've been trying to get published, but." The corner of his lips curved up without the expression reaching his eyes. "Nothing's come of it, so far."

"Anything supernatural themed at all?"

Eyes finding Dipper's again, Wirt searched his face for clues as to where this was going. "Yes. A lot of it, actually."

Dipper too a drink of his coffee, and hesitated. "I could, I mean if you want, I can hook you up with my publisher. Poetry isn't their specialty or anything but I'm sure they'd be interested in taking a look at your work." His eyes were nervous but hopeful. As though there was a change that his offer was somehow wrong or too forward. It made Wirt speechless.

"It's totally okay if you want to do it on your own, I'll understand, but I already have connections and my publisher has even more and it'd just be me calling them and putting a good word in for you and giving them your contact information so you can arrange a meeting but you can just say no, I won't mind. I don't know where the boundaries are, here, so if this is too much and you're freaking out right now I can-"

That was the point Wirt realized he needed to step in before Dipper worked himself up more.

"Hold up." He held up a hand. "It's fine. I really appreciate the offer, I was just surprised." A genuine smile formed on his face. Dipper was the most kind person he had met in a long time. "You're very sweet."

After debating with himself a second, Wirt reached for Dipper's hand on the table. Dipper's eyebrows shot up in surprise but he didn't move away. "Thank you. You've helped me so much already, I have no idea how to return the favor."

Dipper's cheeks tinted pink as he adjusted his hand to rub Wirt's with his thumb. "Don't worry about that. I want to help you." He shifted on his seat so that he was in easier reach. "Everything will be alright. I have some sources I can check, and if they don't pan out, there's always Bill."

Wirt wanted to brush hair out of Dipper's eyes but stopped himself, this time. There was something he needed to address before getting too affectionate.

"Um, about Bill," he started. "What, what is he, to you?" It was a question he had avoided. Wirt couldn't imagine how the two worked, but the way they talked about each other must have meant something. If he wanted to pursue a relationship with Dipper, he needed to know where they stood.

"Oh." Dipper bit his lip, eyes shifting from Wirt's hand to his face. "Bill's kind of always been there, in good and bad. I care about him and I know he cares about me, in his own way."

Not knowing what to make of it, Wirt let Dipper choose his words. The man looked conflicted.

"He's my life partner in a lot of ways." Here, Dipper threw up a hand, as if to stop any interruptions. "I know how he comes across, I've seen you interact. But you have to understand that he's not being mean, or malicious." He smiled, crooked and strangely pleased. "Actually, I think he's fond of you. He wouldn't be this helpful if he didn't see something in you he liked."

The explanation left Wirt even more confused. He went over it in his head a couple of times, arriving to a tentative conclusion. "So you and Bill are together but he likes me so it's ok for me to ask you out?"

Dipper wiggled his hand so he could squeeze Wirt's. "It's totally ok. You two are friendly, in his weird demon standards. And I also like you do that makes it doubly ok."

The smile on Wirt's face started out strained but turned brighter as he processed the response. "Good." This wasn't a relationship configuration he ever thought he would be in but if there was a chance they could make it work, he was willing to try. "I haven't lived here long. Want to show me around, say tomorrow, around noon?"

Dipper grinned. "It's a date."


	4. Just Distractions

A/N: A new chapter! Feedback appreciated :)

* * *

Bill blinked to existence over Dipper's shoulder in the gray dreamscape.

"How's it hanging, Pine Tree?"

Dipper smiled at the demon. "I had a talk with Wirt about how he almost died as a kid and he asked me out." No wonder he didn't get along with people outside of work. Sentences like that were what he used with Bill but got him strange looks from his fellow humans. He just assumed that Bill knew what he was talking about and summarized as he pleased. "It's ok, right?"

"Yup!" Bill shone bright at him and morphed their surroundings to a seashore. Dipper thought he saw a shark's fin in the distance but didn't comment. "Pilgrim's fun, and you need a fleshy companion. Just picture it," he stretched his arm over Dipper's shoulders. "once I win him over, you two can be my very own human harem!"

Dipper rolled his eyes, but in good humor. "Not sure if two people really count as a harem. Besides, that's a conversation you need to have with Wirt."

As far as Dipper knew, Wirt didn't trust Bill. He could see a slow, grudging respect for the demon's abilities and knowledge, a fascination. That was similar to how he and Bill had started out, and he needed Wirt and Bill to get along. He knew what he felt for Bill wasn't the same thing Bill felt for him. He had come to terms with it; Bill lacked the physical properties human emotions required. It was as simple, and as complicated, as that.

Bill was right, though. As intellectually satisfying their relationship was, Dipper needed someone he could spend time with in the physical realm. He didn't have many friends, and Mabel couldn't always be there for him. The demon and Dipper were bound, in their deal, in their mismatch of emotions, and in their mutual pursuit of knowledge and recognition. Maybe he would have a chance of something different with Wirt.

"You know that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." He turned in the demon's grip. Bill was always challenging to read but looking him in the eye helped. "I've searched through the archive and contacted that guy from Massachusetts who's family's buried on the graveyard near where Wirt and his brother almost drowned." He broke down his findings more for himself than Bill. Using the demon as a sounding board had helped more than once. "Nothing really useful so far. I found a story about what could be The Unknown but I'll have to run it by Wirt to be sure."

"Hm." Bill extended his arms so he could float farther away while still keeping a hold on Dipper. "You know, Pine Tree, this might be more than a simple exorcism can fix."

Dipper knew the touch was for his comfort. After Bill had learned what humans got from touch, he had made a point of making casual contact. Dipper appreciated the effort, all the more because touch did nothing for Bill in this form.

"Yeah, I mean that's why I'm trying to find out what exactly is going on with him."

"It's rooted in deep. There's something in Pilgrim that made it possible for this 'Beast'," an extra hand sprouted up so Bill could make air quotes without letting go of his human, "to latch onto him in the first place. That fleshpile needs psychiatric help."

It wasn't what Dipper wanted to hear. The things Bill said often weren't. He wanted to help Wirt and the realization that he couldn't made his heart drop to his stomach. The empty feeling in his chest caused the sea to storm.

Bill stopped it without effort and patted Dipper on the head. "Woah there, buddy. Don't go flipping out on me now."

"But if I can't figure this out, what good am I?" Old insecurities painted the sea black.

"Don't do this to yourself," Bill shook him. "We both know nothing good lies down that path."

Dipper struggled to break out of the grip. He knew all he had to do was imagine himself farther away. He wanted to be free, to run to the sea, to wake up, and do research. But he knew Bill was right. No good would come of running himself to the ground. He had been there and didn't want to go back.

"Look, Pine Tree." This time Bill's shaking got Dipper to face him again. "Pilgrim likes you, ok? He finds your crippling awkwardness disgustingly cute."

Of course, Dipper had guessed that Bill would snoop around. It was morally questionable, and he shouldn't encourage it, but he was just as curios as to what was going on in Wirt's head. As much as he wanted details, he didn't ask.

"You're being super reassuring right now." He tilted his head. "What's up?"

Bill huffed. "Can't I just look out for you?"

"You can," Dipper said, placating yet skeptical. For a moment it looked like Bill wasn't going to elaborate. They stared at each other. Then, slowly, Bill's eye turned up in a smile.

"Pilgrim's the most interesting thing that we've come across in a long time and I want in on that action!"

Dipper grinned back. "I know! Like, I'm really worried about him and everything, but this is so exciting." They spent a moment smiling, buzzing with shared curious energy.

Dipper woke up that morning ready to take on the world. And also to take Wirt on a date.

* * *

They met up in front of the library for their tour. Wirt was in high spirits despite having slept a total of three hours the previous night. A combination of nerves and branches in his mind kept him from restful sleep. He could barely feel it now, out in the sun. On a date. It had been such a long time since he last went on one. Dipper looked content to walk around, telling stories about places and people.

Wirt had been so occupied with his worries that he hadn't had the time or inclination to enjoy the charm of the little town.

"Look, there's the bar that let Mabel and me in when we were twelve."

The questionable charm of the little town.

Wirt wondered if it would be okay to take Dipper's hand. People held hands on dates, right? He tested the waters by brushing Dipper's. The tense moment ended with Dipper taking the hint and grabbing his hand. Wirt breathed a sigh of relief. This was good.

"The town's been through some stuff, so a lot of this doesn't look like how I remember it, back when we spent our summers here," Dipper said.

"I noticed the library has a new wing," Wirt piped up. He was happy to let Dipper do most of the talking but not saying anything might give the impression that he wasn't having fun.

Dipper blushed. It was a strange reaction to an innocent comment. "Yeah, that's," he rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes not quite holding Wirt's. "Bill sort of had it built for my twentieth birthday," he admitted. "I still don't know how he pulled that off."

"Oh. Wow." That was. Something.

"I know. He's into ridiculous grand gestures like that."

That went against everything Wirt though he knew about Bill. A part of him wanted to be jealous, to feel like there was no way he could compare. He couldn't give Dipper a library wing. Instead, what he felt was relief. His initial suspicion, that Bill was using Dipper for some nefarious end, seemed less and less likely the more he learned about their relationship. Dipper had someone in his life who cared about him.

"Should I be jealous?" He smiled at Dipper, swinging their hands back and forth. "I'm just a regular human, I can't give you parts of buildings."

"Nah," Dipper grinned, giving his hand a squeeze. "Being able to hang out like this, and to actually touch you, is at least as important as getting buildings for my birthday."

"I'm fairly confident I can provide you with both of those."

They continued to wander the streets, Dipper pointing out places that sparked memories. Wirt enjoyed each little story and piece of information. There was something about Dipper's enthusiasm in the simple outing that eased his worries. He knew he would have to deal with his situation at some point, but that point didn't have to be right now. He had put it off for months; surely one more day couldn't hurt.

The sun was starting to set by the time they came to the end of their tour: the cemetery on the other side of town.

"And here, Mabel and me hung out with our cooler, older friends," Dipper concluded. "We can go check it out if you want?"

Wirt agreed to go. He wasn't a fan of cemeteries but he wanted to draw out their time together. When the tour ended, he would have to go back to the apartment and fail at both writing and sleep.

Dipper wandered off to take a look at some some older graves while Wirt stayed near the entrance. He read a couple headstones closest to the path to pass the time.

"These are kids."

Three smaller headstones were surrounded by melted candles and a mixture of wilted and fresh flowers. The dates were too close together.

Dipper walked back to him. "Wirt?" He sounded concerned, yet far away. There was a strange rustling in Wirt's ears. It blocked out any worried words. It was the wind in the trees around him.

"Poor wayward souls, lost in the woods." He thought he was sad. These were children, why else would he have stopped here, unless it was to mourn? The leaves shook, there was no wind. He felt nothing. "Your parents won't find you on time."

Something, someone took him by the shoulders and yelled.

"Wirt! Snap out of it, man!"

The world came back to focus. Dipper stood in front of him, frantic. The grip on him was shaky.

Wirt blinked. "Dipper?" Hadn't he been in a different part of the cemetery just a second ago? Why was he so scared? "What's wrong?"

"What's-?" Dipper's hands fell to Wirt's forearms. He frowned. "You didn't respond, I tried talking to you but you just." He let out a frustrated noise. "You said their parents didn't find them on time. How did you know?"

Wirt had trouble understanding the question. It was obvious, but at the same time he couldn't pinpoint where the knowledge came from.

"I have no idea," he confessed. He reached for Dipper's face, laying his hands on either side of his head. He didn't understand. "Why are you scared?" This seemed like an overreaction to him spacing out.

Dipper mirrored his confusion. "What do you mean, why? It was like you left. I mean, obviously you were still standing here but you were different. And then you said that thing, about the kids."

Wirt stroked Dipper's cheek with his thumb and frowned when the round eyes strained to look at the movement. "Are you scared of me?"

"No!" Dipper denied. Then, calmer, "I'm not scared of you, I'm scared for you. I don't know what's going on with you, and that worries me." He leaned into Wirt's hand, nuzzled it almost, but kept eye contact. "I'd feel better if you weren't alone. Come back to the Shack with me."

It didn't sound like a request, and something in Wirt bristled but Dipper looked calmer, even a bit spacey. Wirt relented.

"Alright. I need to stop at my place, though, pick up some stuff."

Dipper blinked rabidly. "Yeah, okay. Sorry, just Bill sensed my distress or something, and he's nagging me."

"Shush, Bill." Wirt was distracted as Dipper's hands traced his arms. Up and down, as if trying to calm him. He was calm. Dipper's cheek was soft and warm beneath his thumb. "Just tell me when you want me gone. I don't want to be a burden."

"You're not a burden."

They stood there for a beat longer before pushing apart. Wirt took Dipper's hand again and led them out of the cemetery. Dipper had parked near the library so they made the trek back. It was silent. the town was turning in for the night and the streetlights were on by the time they made it to the car.

They made a pit stop at Wirt's to pick up some essentials. He decided on a small bag, fit for staying a night, maybe two. Despite how Dipper had assured that he wouldn't be a bother, he felt better having an excuse to leave. Just in case Dipper changed his mind or they needed a break from each other.

"Hey, are you ok with me asking a couple questions," Dipper spoke up as they neared the Shack. "About what happened, and about The Unknown?"

"I suppose. But um, I don't know what happened. I heard wind in the trees and," Wirt shrugged, "nothing. I'm still not freaking out even though I guess I should be?" The whole ordeal felt like just another day in the life of. He knew it wasn't; Dipper's reaction told him as much.

The rest of the drive was silent. Dipper parked in front, and grabbed Wirt's bag despite his protests. There was an extra bedroom, a fact Wirt was both relieved and disappointed about. It was cozy, if a bit pink. Dipper explained that Mabel stayed there whenever she was over.

"So, I'm going to meditate and commune with Bill while you get settled in, and then I'll ask you some questions. That ok?" Dipper handed over Wirt's bag.

"Yes, that sounds good."

Before Wirt knew what was happening, Dipper bounced up on his toes and pecked him on the lips. Wirt made a soft, embarrassing sound at the contact that left him flustered. Dipper parted with a teasing smile and Wirt had to grab the door frame to stop himself from going after him.

Coming here had been the worst idea; he wasn't going to survive this.


	5. Beneath The Surface

Somewhere during calming himself down, Wirt fell asleep. He was once again in the gray dreamscape. No Greg, no forest; this wasn't one of his nightmares. Instead, he was standing on a meadow facing a cliff, and beyond it, the sea. There was something stirring the water, a current or a huge creature. He didn't want to look into it.

A yellow flash in the corner of his eye. He turned, a couple pointed questions on his tongue, and saw that Bill wasn't alone.

"Dipper? How are you here?"

Bill answered for him. "Pine Tree here figured out how to invade a mind when he was twelve. He's a natural!"

"It's not really an invasion." Dipper fixed the bill of his cap. Waiting for him to elaborate, Wirt crossed his arms. The closed off posture only made Dipper more tight lipped.

"You entered this dream and redecorated. I'd say that's pretty invasive," Bill took it upon himself to make the situation more worrying.

"Weren't you giving Bill a hard time for looking into my mind without permission without too long ago?" Wirt was getting agitated. Not understanding how the whole going into someone's mind business worked made his irritation worse.

"It's not like that!" Dipper hurried to correct. He sent Bill a displeased look. "I'm just visiting, and this," he pointed at everything, "is not mine, it's more of a combination." Dipper glanced at his feet, poked a flower with his foot. "The meadow's new."

Dissatisfied with the explanation, Wirt frowned deeper. It wasn't a pout. "I like the meadow, it's staying. In fact, I think there should be more meadow." He didn't know how it happened but his stubborn indignation made flowers sprout on Dipper's clothes. Tiny buds went into full bloom in front of his eyes until Dipper was more flower blush than man.

Bill laughed so hard he spun in the air. "That's a great look on you, Pine Tree."

"Shut up Bill, you're not helping," the bush grunted. "Wirt I'm sorry, ok? I was going to ask you but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you. I'll leave if you want, just, yeah. Sorry."

Wirt stared him down. The flower bush shrunk on itself.

"Alright," he relented. "But you're staying like that as retribution."

"Oooh, spiteful. I like that," Bill chimed in, his eye an amused crescent.

"I'm glad someone is enjoying the situation," Wirt said.

"You should be!"

He wasn't sure if Bill didn't understand sarcasm or if the demon just elected to ignore it. If he had to guess, he would say the later.

The waves were silent as they hit the shore. Whatever was under the surface, it kept moving, creating splashed that watered the nearest flowers. The cliff was gone and he could see the plant life under the water's surface.

"You were gonna fall off that had the nightmare played out," Bill said, moving to hover by Wirt.

"We're here to guarantee you a good night's sleep."

Wirt's guarded stance softened. "Oh." He held eye contact with the unblinking eye for a beat before looking at his bare feet, shy all of a sudden. "Thank you."

"It was Pine Tree's idea," Bill admitted. "But it's only possible thanks to my powers, so you're welcome."

The man-come-flower bush looked repentant. Wirt decided to have mercy on him. "Fine," he sighed. "You're forgiven, just never do this again, without asking me first." He had developed the biggest soft spot for this man.

When the flowers fell, Dipper brushed himself off and offered Wirt an apologetic smile. "Thanks. Just, I know you're tired, and with that thing effecting your mind, I..." He trailed off when he saw Wirt's unimpressed look. "Sorry, won't happen again."

"It's fine, we're fine," Wirt assured, making sure to uncross his arms. "So how does this work? Do we just hang out until I wake up?" He hadn't thought he would ever spend time with both Dipper and Bill, what with their arrangement, so he wasn't sure how to act. Strangely enough, he didn't feel like a third wheel yet.

"We can do whatever you want," Dipper said, more relaxed now that Wirt didn't show any signs of displeasure. "We can stay here and lie around or something, or we can change location. Your call."

Wirt gave it some thought. "I like it here. Though, what's with the water? It looks hostile." The waves didn't make a sound. It was unnerving.

"That," Dipper stated. "Yeah. Bill makes all large bodies of water that appear in my dreams look uninviting."

"It's by fire or nothing, Pine Tree."

Dipper let out a laugh, but it was high pitched and nervous. "Has it been long enough that we can joke about it now?"

Confused, Wirt kept glancing between the two. Bill gave away nothing, Dipper made a point of not look at him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask. Whatever it was about seemed personal. They would tell him if it was something he needed to know.

A blanket appeared at their feet. Wirt sat down and patted the space next to him for Dipper to follow. The sky was an empty canvas.

"What do you think, stars or clouds?" he asked once Dipper sat down, leaning back on his hands.

"Trust you to come up with the most boring options," Bill commented. He had crossed his legs in mid air. "How about something more interesting? Like floating severed heads!"

"I thought this was meant to be relaxing?" Wirt pointed out, exchanging a look with Dipper, who shrugged.

"Alright then. Exploding floating heads!"

Wirt tried to follow Bill's logic but there didn't seem to be any. He flopped on his back. "How does that-? You know what? You're the worst at ideas."

"Everything I come up with is amazing."

"I've yet to see evidence of that."

Bill's eye flew wide and his hand settled on his bow tie. "Your words hurt deep in my-"

"Your bow tie?" Wirt interrupted the dramatics. It only fueled the demon's exaggerated hurt.

"Deep in my bow tie!" Bill cried out, floating on his back. "It's wounded, struck down by your cruel words!"

"Good thing it's black so won't have to worry about stains."

Next to them, Dipper was holding back giggles. He coughed into his fist when he noticed Wirt's attention was on him. "I'm, heh, so glad you guys are getting along," Dipper said, without a hint of sarcasm.

"Boy, if you think this is us getting along, you wouldn't wanna see us fight," Bill said, recovering from his grievous injury.

Wirt nodded solemnly. "It'd be a bow tie massacre."

Dipper's eyes shone with mirth and Wirt gave in to a smile. For the first time, he felt a sense of camaraderie with Bill. Where their previous arguments had been serious, on his part, this one was more playful banter than anything. At least they were united in wanting Dipper smiling and content.

"Let's make a no-gore compromise and make it fireworks, ok?" Dipper suggested.

"Is this your paranormal diplomacy training coming into play?" Wirt asked, moving close enough to nudge Dipper with his shoulder.

"I have practiced my whole life to settle arguments between you two." Dipper bumped back and shot Bill a smile. They had a wordless exchange where Dipper gave a small nod and Bill wiggled his eyebrow.

Wirt hadn't slept so well in months.

When he woke up next morning, the sun barely peaked through the stained glass window. The covers were over him and his shoes were off. Dipper must have tucked him in.

Wirt turned to snuggle deeper into his pillow when he felt something warm against his side. The obvious conclusion was that there was someone in bed with him. He turned and opened his eyes. A yellow stare met him.

"Morning, Pilgrim!"

It was too early for this. He felt that he had reached an understanding with Bill but that didn't mean he was ready to wake up to the demon shouting in his face.

"Ten more minutes." He buried his face back into the pillow. Bill didn't budge. "Are you just going to watch me sleep?" The pillow muffled his words.

"Yes!" Bill said, sounding all too delighted. "But you have to be quiet, Pine Tree's asleep."

Wirt turned back to him. "You're the one who's shouting."

"This is my normal speaking voice!" Bill yelled.

It was because he was half asleep, Wirt told himself. A laugh burst out before he could stop it. Wirt covered his mouth to not give his amusement away. It was too late; Bill was grinning so wide it nearly split Dipper's face in half.

"Aw, you think I'm charming. Admit it."

Wirt needed a moment to gather himself enough to reply with a straight face. "Yes, I find your obnoxious personality utterly enchanting."

"I knew it!"

His serious expression cracked and he went to adjust his position, picking at the pillowcase. Their knees bumped. Wirt froze; this was the closest he had been to Bill voluntarily. He wondered if Bill could read his mind even through the blanket and their clothes.

The demon had gone still and solemn. "Are you still afraid of me, Pilgrim?"

"I..." Wirt stopped to think. If he took into account that Bill didn't operate in the same realm of morality, or even existence, as he did, the demon's actions didn't seem as threatening. They were more aggressive attempts at helping him than acts of violence or intimidation. Dipper had said that Bill was being nice and he knew the demon better. All in all, Wirt was confused by Bill, rather than scared.

"Not really," Wirt admitted. "I mean, I was at first, but Dipper trusts you and I trust his judgment."

"Good." The corners of Bill's eyes wrinkled in a way Wirt found more genuine than the face splitting grin. Wirt still startled when Bill's hand went to smooth down his bed head.

"Don't get me wrong, I still have big plans for this realm, but I figured they can wait until Pine Tree kicks it."

It was a strange confession to make while petting someone but Wirt didn't move away. The fingers in his hair didn't feel terrible.

"Hmm," Bill hummed, fingers stilling so that his hand was resting on Wirt's head. "I still don't get why humans make such a big deal out of this."

Wirt frowned. "You mean touch?" He felt his face grow warm when Bill's thumb traced his ear.

How long had he been this starved for affection?

"Yes! Pine Tree has a constant internal struggle because he wants to put his hands on you but he's not sure if you'd be into it," Bill said, baffled. "Even though it's obvious that you wouldn't mind."

Wirt was definitely red now. "He, what, I," he failed at forming a sentence. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with Bill. Even though he felt giddy about learning that Dipper felt that way, he didn't think it was something that should be blurted out like that.

"Um, Bill? I think this is a conversation I need to have with Dipper." The implication was that Bill should leave so he could reassure Dipper that touching him was one hundred percent ok, and that they could cuddle and go back to sleep. Bill didn't seem to catch onto that.

"Pfft, all you ever do is talk."

"You're the most talkative one of us."

"Yeah, what's your point?"

Wirt didn't have one. Bill was still stroking along his earlobe and now that their conversation wasn't distracting him, it was all he could focus on. He swallowed, nervous yet strangely comfortable.

"Pilgrim your ears are enormous."

The moment was broken.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Wirt shot the demon's words back at him. Instead of annoyed, Bill looked pleased.

"Pine Tree never gets this level of sass from you. I feel special."

"Dipper doesn't annoy me as much."

"I don't think 'annoy' is the word you're looking for."

Wirt raised a brow. "What is?"

"How about charm, entice or allure?"

"Try infuriate, disconcert or," Wirt yawned. It was getting difficult to think of words, "provoke."

Bill chuckled. "Go to back to sleep, Pilgrim. I'll watch out for you."

Wirt was too sleepy to analyze how that sentence had gone from unnerving to comforting. He was asleep in seconds.

Two hours later, Wirt woke up alone.

He found a note written on his hand:

Out for business, back by nightfall  
Don't get in trouble while I'm gone xoxo -Bill

Hadn't the whole point of him coming here been so he wouldn't be alone? And now Bill had just up and left to do whatever it was he did. Maybe he was working on the "big plans" he mentioned while petting Wirt to sleep. The thought sent a dual shock of chills and warmth through him. On one hand, some as immoral as Bill having plans of any sort was worrying, on the other, Wirt hadn't minded being touched like that.

Wirt sighed and began a search for some tea. Nothing went better with conflicting emotions than a hot cup of leaf water.

He could safely say that he liked Dipper. Dipper was kind, cute and smart. But with Bill it wasn't as clean cut. Bill wasn't kind, Wirt wouldn't describe his triangular form as cute, and while he was smart, it was a cunning, dangerous intelligence.

He had to admit, though; now that their back and forth was more about bow ties and less about unwilling mind control, he was enjoying them. There weren't many people that could draw out his sassy, asshole-ish side anymore. Bill catered to that side like a champ. It was liberating.

Wirt wondered into the living room. Stacks of books and piles of folders and papers surrounded the lone armchair. Wirt resisted the urge to snoop for a heartbeat. He leafed through some papers, messy notes and drawings, before taking a seat and picking a book from a stack closest to him. The cover had the same triangle with an eye the library books had. Wirt scanned the pages.

There were various descriptions of demons but only one side note about Bill.

Curious, Wirt spent a good while looking through the books he could find about the subject. All he found was that the demon went by Bill Cipher and that he was a powerful mind demon.

Thoughts whirling, Wirt threw together a meal from what he could find in the kitchen and went back to reading.

Night fell with no sign of Dipper or Bill. Wirt moved to sit on the porch. The nights weren't cold yet but he wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. It was a colorful thing, stitched together from bright patches of fabric. Wirt smiled as he studied the different patterns. He had found it in the room he was using so he assumed it belonged to Mabel. Dipper always spoke of her fondly, and Wirt wondered if he would ever get to meet her. From what he saw in her room, the glimpses of a vibrant personality, he already liked her. Mabel and Greg would be an absolute terror together.

He sat there, wrapped up in warmth, looking out into the dark forest. The porch light was the only light source. He could hear movement, rustling of leaves, breaking twigs. He squinted at the dark.

A figure stumbled out of the bushes. Wirt jumped up. The creature, or the person, fled back into the dark and Wirt followed.

The colorful blanket flew behind him like a cape. Running through dark woods, draped on flowing fabric.

He could see the outlines of trees around him, though the light of the Shack no longer reached him.

The thing in front of him, an animal? He didn't know anymore. He shouted for it to stop, and it tripped on a tree root. Wirt stopped too, breathing heavily. What was he doing?

The tree root moved back into the ground. A chill traveled through him, so he hugged the blanket tighter. His left hand felt cold and stiff. His fingers creaked like old wood when he moved them.

Too scared to look, he dropped on his knees and pulled the blanket over his head. Like a child scared of the boogieman. Again Except he was simultaneously both the child and the monster.

"Wirt, wake up!"

Wake up? Wirt stirred. There was a light shining outside his shield of flowers and hearts and kittens. He peeked out. In the light of the flashlight, he could see Dipper's concerned face.

"What happened? You were just, curled up on the ground," Dipper said, moving to help Wirt up.

Wirt flinched away. Dipper froze. "It's alright, you're fine." He made no move to grab Wirt but didn't move away, either.

Wirt ducked back inside the blanket cocoon to check his hand in the torch light. It looked the way his hand always looked. He stared at it.

"Wirt?"

He stood up, peeling the cover from his head. Dipper was watching him like a rare specimen, eyes narrowed and observant. Wirt thought he saw a hint of yellow.

"How are you feeling, man?"

"I, uh." Wirt coughed and for a horrifying second, he was sure it was because of the leaves sprouting inside him. "I'm fine," he lied.

It was clear Dipper didn't believe him. "What are you doing out here, in the middle of the night?"

"I thought I saw something." Had he? Had he even been awake? "I, I went after it and then." He looked around but there was nothing. "You found me."

Dipper frowned. "You saw something," he repeated, slowly. Wirt nodded.

"You're wearing Mabel's blanket."

Wirt glanced down at himself. "Oh, right. I'm sorry, I probably got it dirty."

"Never mind that, I'm more worried about you," Dipper said, pointing the flashlight back towards the Shack. They weren't that far away; Wirt could almost see the house past the trees.

"Come on. You like tea, right? I'll make you tea and you can tell me everything that happened." Dipper gave Wirt a pointed look and lead the way.


	6. Where You End

With a warm cup of tea, Wirt told Dipper every little detail he could recall from earlier that night. He didn't dare leave anything out, certain that Dipper would know. Wirt understood why someone like Dipper could become involved with a creature like Bill. Bill was all about keeping secrets, Dipper about sniffing them out.

Mabel's blanket was still on his shoulders. It made him feel grounded.  
Tea and conversation, again. Bill had been right; all they ever did was talk.

The last time he had seen Dipper, the man had kissed him. Now, Dipper was busy making notes and chewing on his pen. It was distracting.

Blushing, Wirt ducked behind his mug when he realized he had been staring at Dipper's mouth for the past minute. He needed to focus on giving as much information about his situation as he could. Help Dipper to help him. He wanted this solved. But he also wanted another kiss.

"This turning into wood thing, it ties back to The Unknown, right?" Dipper asked without looking up from his notes.

Wirt forced his mind back on track. "Yes, I think so," he managed. This was ridiculous. He was being a needy idiot. Finding out what was going on with him sleepwalking or hallucinating or whatever was way more important than his stupid urges. Everything was confusing and dumb.

Dipper replaced the pen in his mouth for his lower lip and Wirt was back to staring like a creep.

"Well, we need check out that tree root in the morning. You can't tell if you were dreaming and I'm not sure you were sleeping when I found you." Dipper clicked the pen a couple times. "That should confirm it, one way or another."

Wirt looked away when Dipper looked up from his work. He wasn't sure he wanted it confirmed. If it had been another nightmare, it didn't change his circumstances any. He never knew when he was dreaming, now with added sleepwalking.

But he hadn't been dreaming at the cemetery. Dipper had seen him and heard him. Wayward souls was an expression The Beast had used when whispering to him before.

"How does it feel?" Wirt whispered, more to himself, but when Dipper leaned forward with a confused frown, he elaborated, louder, "When Bill possesses you, how does it feel?"

Dipper hesitated. "It's... It's kind of an out of body experience? Like, he doesn't get to completely kick me out anymore so I'm there, and I'm me, but I'm stuck watching my body do and say things without me." He paused to write something down. "It's a bit alarming, even after all this time. I use that time to sleep, when Bill's not doing anything interesting."

That didn't sound like what happened to Wirt. His actions and words had felt his own, even when they hadn't.

Dipper was watching him. Wirt had to admit having his full attention felt like being under a microscope. A small piece of the world that could yield knowledge if looked at carefully enough.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you're being possessed, not exactly," Dipper said, expression softening. "Bill says it's partly psychological, and I hate to admit it, but he's usually right about these things."

So Wirt was back to square one: going back to therapy. The exhaustion must have showed on his face.

"But here I am, keeping you up when you're like, super sleep deprived." Dipper got up, moving to usher Wirt to bed. "I'll ask Bill to look out for you, come on."

Wirt didn't move despite Dipper's insistent hand motions. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. "Kiss me goodnight again?"

Dipper stopped moving, eyes widening like Wirt wanting a kiss had never occurred to him.

"I uh, that is, that was." He cleared his throat. "Okay." But he didn't make a move so, frustrated, Wirt grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down, tilting his own head up. It was awkward, just a stiff press of lips before Dipper relaxed and placed his hands on Wirt's shoulders. Wirt pressed up into him, a while escaping when Dipper's tongue traced the seam of his lips. Startled by his own reaction, Wirt pulled away.

Dipper followed him but stopped just short of their lips touching. "Sorry, too fast?" he breathed, fist punching up the blanket around Wirt.

"No, no just, surprised. I don't do this a lot," Wirt confessed. He let their lips brush. "Another?"

This time it was warm and wet and good.

They parted with matching smiles. Dipper explained that he had work to do, sorting out notes, and Wirt went to bed, eager for another night of restful sleep.

He was wandering through the woods again. Sunlight filtered in through the leaves, casting soft shadows. A reassuring weight on his shoulders, a quiet certainty in his mind. He knew these trees, their gentle rustle welcoming.

Crying in the distance. He paid it no mind; he would find them when it was time.

A yellow shape his behind the trees, a friendly presence but not one that belonged here. His shadow stretched like tree roots. The tendrils brushed against the shape and it shrunk.

Wirt frowned. A sense of unease rose in him. He hadn't been able to do that before. But also, he had always been able to, he had chosen not to.

The crying stopped. It wouldn't be long now. Soon, the woods would claim them and put a stop to fear and loneliness. If only they surrendered, there would be no more sadness. Everything returned to the woods.

The yellow shape flashed and vanished. Wirt continued on. His joints creaked as he moved. The sound put him at ease. It was the same one old trees made as they swayed in the wind. It was a sound of belonging. Here, he was never alone.

A new tree grew by a clearing. Delicate branches reached for sun light, leaves budding.

Wirt smiled. It wasn't a warm thing, just a twitch of lips, out of practice. Everything was slow and languid. The fast and fickle pace of emotion had no place in the woods.

He reached out for the new tree and it reached back. Both were at peace.

A cloud cast a shadow over the clearing. Wirt thought he saw a dark figure in the corner of his eye. It was always there, just beyond his field of vision. He paid it no mind. Nurturing his new friend to grow was more important. He sat by the tiny tree. The could passed them over and there was unfiltered sunlight again.

Good.

He basked in the light, immobile but for the wind that passed through his cape. The earth was soft underneath him. He felt rooted in this land, at home. There was nowhere else for him.  
Wirt looked at the clearing. Patches of wilting grass, and there, right across from him, a pine tree.

He spent a long time staring.

When Wirt came to, he was in the woods again. He sat up, confused. Mabel's blanket was stuck on a tree branch a little ways away. When he got up and pried it loose, he saw the Shack's porch light shining in the distance. It was night time.

Wirt brushed off the pine needles and leaves on him. Had he sleepwalked? He had been dreaming, right?

The door was open when he made it to the house.

"Dipper?" he called. A second later he was slammed on the closed door.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Wirt's startled eyes found his attacker's. Yellow.

"H-hi Bill."

The demon had him by the front of his shirt, seething. "Don't 'hi Bill' me. Pine Tree's worried sick. He's been out looking for you all day." He shook Wirt. "You disappeared. He refused to rest and eat, I had to drag him back here to feed and water this body myself. Now answer the goddamn question."

Wirt grabbed Bill's wrists to try and make the demon let go but it was no use. He realized that he had never seen Bill angry before.

"Wait, all day?" He stopped attempting to get free.

Bill growled. "You've been missing since this morning. I watched out for you like Pine Tree asked but you kicked me out!" His eyes flashed red and for the first time in a long while, Wirt worried for his safety.

"You should know that Dipper cares way more about his loved ones than he does about himself," Bill continued. "But just go ahead act like he matters to you right before pulling this shit, you useless sack of flesh!"

"I don't know!" Wirt cried out when Bill pressed him more firmly to the door. "I don't know where I was or what happened, alright?" He pushed at Bill, to get some breathing room. The demon was right in his face, eyes blazing.

"I'm sorry I made Dipper worry but what do you think this does to me?"

At the apology, Bill eased up and Wirt used the opportunity to push the demon off.

"Half the time I don't even know what I feel!" Wirt was yelling now, and Bill looked taken back. "Do you think this is easy for me? That some slight set back made me come here?" Wirt asked without waiting for an answer. "I never asked for any of this! I never wanted to travel across the damn country only to end up with a sorry excuse for a demon in this stupid hick town!"

By the end of his outburst, Wirt was breathing heavily. He was sure he looked crazed, hair and clothes a mess from sleeping on the ground, panting and glaring at the demon in front of him.

Bill stared, opening his mouth to speak a couple of times before closing it again. His eyes had gone back to yellow.

Wirt straightened from his defensive crouch and ran a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath before speaking, "You're a mind demon, you've been inside my head. You should know I'd never hurt Dipper on purpose." He sighed, exhausted now when the adrenaline was fading. "He's the one good thing to come out of this mess."

Bill looked at Wirt like he had never seen him before. As he stared, his gaze turned appreciative, a slow smile forming on his face. "Wow, Pilgrim."

Wirt didn't know what to make of that. "Thanks?"

Bill grinned. "Anyhow, you need to calm Pine Tree down. He is freaking out!"

Wirt realized what was happening on time to catch Dipper's body before it hit the floor. Grunting with the effort, he managed to heave Dipper upright.

Dipper stirred and wrapped his arms around Wirt. "You're alright!"

Wirt hugged back, running a hand up and down Dipper's back to soothe. "I'm alright," he confirmed. Dipper pressed close; he had to stand on his toes to hook his chin over Wirt's shoulder. The warm embrace was relaxing for them both. Wirt buried his face on Dipper's shoulder and leaned their heads together. This was good. Dipper was the best at hugs.

"I'm sorry, for worrying you," Wirt spoke against Dipper's shirt. He turned to nuzzle the side of his neck and felt Dipper shiver and cling tighter.

"Don't worry about it."

"No, really. I don't want you to neglect your basic needs for my sake." Bill had said that Dipper had stopped taking care of himself to find Wirt. While he was glad Dipper cared, that was a level of devotion that scared him.

"I've neglected my needs for less," Dipper muttered.

"Well, I'd like you to stop." He kissed where neck met shoulder. "How are you supposed to help anyone if you don't take care of yourself?" Dipper smelled like he hadn't showered in a while but Wirt ignored it in favor of kissing him again before pulling back. He eased Dipper on his feet.

They looked at each other, assessing the damage.

Dipper appeared tired, the bags under his eyes more pronounced, like he had spent nights doing research. Wirt had been so wrapped up in his own misery that he hadn't even realized Dipper was running himself to the ground.

He let his hands drop from Dipper's back to his hips. "You need rest."

Dipper looked like he was about to protest but was cut off by a yawn. "Yeah, ok" Another yawn. "I'll shower and go to bed. But we're not done here. We're getting to the bottom of this tomorrow. No more you finding yourself in the woods at night."

Wirt sighed, smiling. "Alright."

Instead of breaking their hold, Dipper leaned in and buried his hand in Wirt's hair. "Kiss me goodnight?"

"Okay," Wirt breathed, dipping his head down so their mouths could meet. It deepened almost instantly, both a little desperate after the uncertainty of the day. Wirt moaned when Dipper dragged his nails against his scalp. His thumb found its way under Dipper's shirt to travel along the skin above his pants.

They broke apart, panting.

"Good night," Wirt said, voice lower than usual.

Dipper grinned up at him. "Good night," he said, backing away and making his way upstairs.  
Wirt stared after him for a moment before picking up the blanket fallen to the floor during his confrontation with Bill. He hugged it to him and went to the bedroom assigned to him.

He didn't get much sleep that night.


	7. We Begin

There was a knock on the door. Wirt stirred from his light doze and rubbed his eyes to get them to focus.

Another knock, more insistent.

"Wirt? Are you awake? We need to get going."

It was Dipper. Wirt got up, confused. Going where? All he recalled was Dipper saying that they would 'get to the bottom of this', there had been no mention of leaving.

"Wirt?"

"I'm up, just, give me a moment," Wirt called back. He needed to shower and change, maybe get more supplies from his place. Mabel's blanket needed a wash.

Dipper looked relieved when Wirt opened the door. It occurred to him that Dipper had been worried that he wouldn't be here. That he had disappeared in the night, again. Wirt leaned down to place a kiss on his lips, hoping that it came across as reassuring.

"Good morning," Wirt said, straightening. Dipper looked surprised, but pleased, like he hadn't expected this kind of casual affection. Wirt supposed he hadn't, living with a demon that couldn't touch him. As close as Bill and Dipper were, as far as Wirt knew, they weren't physical, with Bill's only access to the material realm being Dipper.

Wirt smiled while fixing the collar of Dipper's shirt. It was ridiculous and flannel, but soft. "You said something about going somewhere?"

"Yeah, um." Dipper cleared his throat. "We need to check out the forest. Do you think you can find your way back to where you came to last night?"

"I think so. I mean, it's not far." His stomach growled. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure when he last ate. Yesterday? The day before that? "Oh, heh. Food first, I guess."

Dipper looked bothered. "I don't have much of anything in the house, but I'll drive you to town, take you to Greasy's if you want."

"It's fine, I need to stop at the apartment anyway. I'll make us something," Wirt offered. "But seriously, go grocery shopping. You need things that are easy to prepare when you're busy."

Watchful eyes on him, Dipper nodded. "Ok. But you know, despite what Bill said, me not eating or resting is not on you."

Bill might have been a mind reader but Dipper was scary perceptive. Wirt supposed it came with the investigator territory but it was unnerving just how spot on the assessment was.

"I'm not," Wirt stopped; there was no use denying it at this point. "Ok, fine. I do feel responsible. And not just for this, I mean, generally, for you being so tired."

Dipper looked despairing. "Wirt." He put his hands on Wirt's hips, at a loss for words. Wirt was reminded that this was a man who lived alone most of the time, whose only company was an incorporeal demon and the occasional client. Having someone there, worrying about him, must have been at least as scary and new for him as the supernatural was for Wirt.

"But that's just how I am. I'm a worry-Wirt," he tried to joke. It fell flat, with Dipper looking more and more like Wirt had just kicked his puppy. And that puppy was also Wirt.

"Wirt, I don't," Dipper began, trailing off.

"It's fine, we're both fine." Wirt wanted the expression gone. He cupped Dipper's cheek and was relieved when he turned into it. "Don't worry about it, alright? Let's just go so we can get something to eat and I can do some laundry."

Dipper closed his eyes, placed his hand on Wirt's. "Ok, wouldn't want to keep you from household chores."

Wirt smiled. "You better not. Chores and I go way back, we're inseparable."

"Should I be jealous?" Dipper looked at him, amusement replacing the worry.

"No, I prefer you."

"Wow, thanks. I'm flattered."

Having successfully lifted the mood, Wirt turned to pick up his things. They held hands on the walk to Dipper's car. The silence was pleasant instead of awkward with soft tunes drifting from the radio.

When they got to Wirt's, Dipper wandered the small living space while Wirt started on breakfast and laundry. Neither of them wanted to go back to the heavier subjects so their conversation revolved around Dipper's work shenanigans and Wirt's work anti-shenanigans.

Dipper insisted on doing the dishes so Wirt got ready to depart. Laundry hanging, Wirt fresh from the shower and with extra snacks in his bag, they were off.

The forest was quiet. Dipper muttered to himself as they walked, eyes shifting between a map, their surroundings, and Wirt. Wirt kept an eye out for anything he might recognize. Everything looked and felt different during the day, with company.

"I think this is it," Wirt said when they reached a familiar setting. "I woke up around here and the blanket was hanging from one of those branches," he pointed. "Woke up" might not be the right term but it was the one Wirt decided to use. If it proved inaccurate, he would deal with it then.

Dipper marked it down on the map. "I searched the woods so I would've found you if you were this close the whole time." He walked around the scene, searching for what, Wirt couldn't tell. "Do you remember anything about being farther in?"

"Well, yes, it was daytime and I'm not sure if I was dreaming or not," Wirt admitted, wracking his brain for what had happened after he had sat down to stare at a tree. If it had been a dream, the pine tree was all too obvious symbolism. But then, Wirt had spent hours wondering how to write about evergreens without making it painfully clear that it was about Dipper.

"There was an open space," Wirt told, "Sort of barren, big trees all around." He realized that wasn't helpful; they were in a forest, surrounded by big trees on all sides no matter where they went.

Instead of commenting on the vague description, Dipper studied the map. "There are three clearings within walking distance. We can check them out, see if you recognize anything." He faced Wirt's uncertain expression with a smile. "It's a long shot, a lot these woods look the same if you're not familiar with them, but it's a start."

"I was, though," Wirt said. "Familiar with them, I mean, yesterday." He shifted his weight under Dipper's inquisitive gaze. "I knew exactly where I was going and what I was doing." He paused. "Except I didn't?" He had still woken up confused.

Dipper frowned. "That's odd. A break in the pattern, anyway." He started pacing. "You were scared and lost, earlier. The Beast has a strong connection to the woods, obviously, but also to," Dipper gestured his hands, looking down as he paced, and Wirt got the impression that he wasn't talking to him. "The literal and figurative unknown and the fear of things we don't understand. Loss, death, the dark, forbidden places in our mind."

Wirt watched for a while longer how Dipper paced and sorted things out.

"So, uh, is me not being scared bad odd or good odd?" Wirt asked, hoping not to crash any important trains of thought but wanting Dipper to acknowledge his existence.

Dipper stopped and, for a second, looked confused about having company. "Oh um, it could go either way?" he ventured. "I mean, it could just be that you're more ready to face what happened to you, which is great. Or you're getting more used to weird stuff, what with me and Bill and everything, and you're growing more receptive to, uh," he stopped. Wirt thought he saw a flash of guilt on his features before Dipper turned and started walking with purpose.

"Anyway, we need to check out those clearings."

Wirt followed, wandering if he had just imagined it. They walked in silence. The place they arrived first didn't ring any bells so they headed for the next one. Wirt searched both the forest and Dipper for anything unusual but came up empty until they emerged from the woods a second time.

"I know this place," Wirt said. Patches of wilted grass, a huge pine tree. This was the clearing from his dream.

Dipper looked around, glanced at the map and marked something down. "Is this it, from your dream?"

They had walked for a couple hours. The forest was so peaceful, despite what Dipper said lived there, Wirt couldn't bring himself to be scared.

"I recognize that tree," Wirt pointed at the pine tree. "I spent a long time just looking at it."  
Dipper's eyes followed Wirt's finger, frowning. "In the dream?" he asked. Wirt wasn't sure what to tell him.

"I thought," Wirt started, then hesitated. The wind blew but this time there was no cape. 'You were at peace, there was only the forest.' He shook his head. Dipper was watching him, worried.

"I thought emotions were," Wirt struggled with his words. "Something extra, like they were useless here. I belonged in the woods and it doesn't," he looked at Dipper, willing him to understand. "The forest doesn't really feel, it just is, and it's calm and still and, and."

' _And welcoming_.'

"And welcoming," Wirt repeated.

"So, it wasn't a nightmare, then?" Dipper asked, moving closer with cautious steps.

' _A beautiful vision_.' "No it." Wirt put a hand to his ear. "Do you hear that?"

Dipper glanced around. "Hear what? Wirt, what's going on?" He placed his hand on Wirt's arm, avoiding fast movements like Wirt was a frightened animal. "Talk to me, man."

Wirt let his hand drop back to his side, eyes wide and scared, staring at Dipper. "I think he's speaking to me," he whispered.

"Who?" Dipper's eyes went unfocused for a moment. He shook his head, vision clearing. "Bill wants to talk to you."

Wirt yanked his arm out of Dipper's reach. "No!" He didn't know why he was so opposed but as he stepped back, he tripped and fell on his backside. Meanwhile, Dipper cast one last worried look before collapsing on his knees.

Once the demon took control, the body moved too fast for Wirt to react. Bill had him by the sides of his head and pinned to the ground in less than a second.

Wirt let out a startled noise and struggled to get away.

Bill rolled his eyes. "Yeesh, Pilgrim, relax. You act like I'd seriously hurt you. I thought we were past that."

"You're the one who just-"

Bill pressed their foreheads together and Wirt went still and quiet. He stared up into the demon's eyes, unblinking. Now that he had stopped fighting, there was no question that he had to stay still, yet the grip on him was more comforting than violent.

And Wirt was pretty sure the body ran hotter when Bill was in it because his face was growing warm.

' _No_.'  
"Shut it, creep," Bill said, collected in the face of an adversary that had Wirt losing his mind.

Wind rustled in the tree tops. 'Leave us.'

"Yeah, no."

Wirt let himself relax. His hands that were on Bill's shoulder and chest from the earlier struggle, eased up but stayed.

"That's it, Pilgrim, that's it," Bill hushed. "Just let me do my thing."

Closing his eyes, Wirt lay pliant and open. The Beast was silent.

They stayed like that for a while. At one point Wirt realized that they were breathing in unison, the buffs of breath on his face coming in time with his own exhales. For whatever extent, Bill was in his mind and on all fours above him, face centimeters away. It was oddly intimate.

Bill chuckled. "Read all you want into it. The turn of your thoughts is very amusing."  
Wirt was definitely blushing now. "Are you done?"

"Almost. This beast thing is back in its hideyhole but I gotta be gentle pulling out, you're so inexperienced."

"Oh my god," Wirt groaned. "That was terrible. You're terrible."

"You say the sweetest things, Pilgrim."

He felt Bill backing off a bit. Then, "Oh hey, while we're both here." Bill kissed him.

Wirt's eyes flew open in surprise. What.

The demon pulled back. he licked his lips, contemplating. "Hm, kissing's a weird way to show affection, kinda unsanitary," he mussed while Wirt tried to get his faculties working. "But the human mouth is sensitive so I guess I can understand the appeal."

After several false starts, Wirt managed, "You kissed me." His hand fell to his lips. That had been - oh.

Bill smirked. "Observant as ever." He poked Wirt on the forehead when there was no reaction. "What's with you? You've shared mouth bacteria with this body before. I don't see what the big deal is."

Mouth bacteria. Right. Because that's what this was about. Bill was something inhuman, Wirt had almost forgotten.

"It's not about that. You, just, caught me off guard," Wirt tried to explain.

"Why?" Bill tiled his head. "I've told you several times that I like you. Kissing's one of the ways you skin puppets show that, right?"

"Well, uh." Was that a rhetorical question? It wasn't the kiss had been unpleasant, just different. Besides the added warmth, he couldn't pinpoint why. "That is correct, but you're not human so I didn't think," he paused. Bill was his boyfriend's partner; was kissing him unethical? Or did that make it ok? Was he jumping to conclusions by referring to Dipper as his boyfriend, even in his head?

Bill sighed, put upon. "Look, Pilgrim. Me and Pine Tree are a package deal. If you don't want us to be physical, that's fine, I don't care, but we're all in this together."

Wirt sat up. With Bill straddling him, the move made them close, again. "I didn't mind. I mean, I'm ok with it if you are," Wirt said, with a surprising amount of confidence.

The demon looked him over, slow and pleased. Wirt was stunned that neither of them had succumbed to childish insults or side tracked the conversation with a witty remark. When Bill kissed him again, he was more responsive, pressing into it.

Bill hummed, more in interest than pleasure, and pulled away. "I guess I need to give you a house or something now so you won't feel like I'm playing favorites."

"Don't worry about it." Buildings as gifts, right. Wirt had a half a mind to tell Bill to never give him a house, it was too much, but he didn't want to insult the demon for once. Bill had made the whispers go away. The world looked clearer, like he could focus on what was going on around him again. He felt the fear settle back in.

In a moment of fright and bravery, Wirt pulled Bill closer, wrapping his arms around his waist. Bill complied with a raised brow.

"What's up, Pilgrim?"

"W-what just happened?" The added body heat was soothing. A day ago, he wouldn't have pegged Bill as a calming influence but here he was, clinging, looking for reassurance.

"Simply put, that beast hack pushed his was to the surface so I shoved him back," Bill explained, care free as ever. "I mean really, the guy is some wannabe from a backwater purgatory, I'm the master of the mind."

Wirt tensed. "You know he played a big part in the worst thing that ever happened to me?" He didn't care for the demon's dismissive attitude. It was like his and Greg's near death experience meant nothing.

"Yeeah, about that," Bill said, in the same flippant tone. "You're way too hung up on that, it's why you have this problem in the first place." He leaned back enough to point Wirt with finger guns. "Seek professional help."

Wirt shoved him. Not hard enough to dislodge him but to make Bill lose his balance for a second. Bill took hold of Wirt's shoulders to steady himself.

"Violent much?"

"You can't just treat what happened to me like it's nothing," Wirt said, angry. Bill rolled his eyes and Wirt almost pushed him again.

"That's the point. You have to start treating it like it's nothing. Hanging on to it will give things like the beast a stepping stone right in here," Bill tapped Wirt's temple. Wirt shooed his hand away. "You have no idea hos many creepy bastards are drawn to all this childhood trauma stuff. You're better off letting it go."

"Do those creepy bastards include you?" Wirt crossed his arms and Bill mirrored him.

"Honestly Pilgrim, after all I've done for you. You'd compare me to those small timers when you should well know that I'm much worse."

Of course Bill would be offended by that. Wirt huffed but couldn't hold on to his anger for the demon. Bill was right, after all. He needed to get over it.

Bill sighed, looking to the side. "Would it make you feel better to talk to Pine Tree?"

The question surprised him. Wirt let his arms drop and they landed on Bill's thighs. The demon didn't seem to notice or care. Blinking in confusion, Wirt tried to piece things together. Bill looked upset, stubbornly not looking at him. It was an emotion he had never seen the demon display before.

Looking back at their conversation, and filtering it through what he thought Bill knew about human social contracts, Wirt came to a conclusion.

Bill had been trying to make him feel better. And Wirt had made all that blow up in his face. Wirt petted the demon absently. Communicating with Bill without stepping on each other's toes was going to be a challenge. He would need to ask Dipper for some tips if they were ever going to make things work. Right now, he had to fix this.

"Bill?" he said, gently. The demon sniffed. "Look at me, please?"

Bill did, reluctant. He leveled Wirt with a scathing look. "What?"

"I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Wirt smiled a little. "You were a jerk about it but, uh. Sorry."

"Ok."

The easy forgiveness took Wirt back. "Ok? Just like that?"

Bill shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I can't really expect you to comprehend all this," Bill gestured at the body, "with your puny human mind."

A sharp comeback on the tip of his tongue, Wirt decided against it. This once, he would let Bill have his "victory". Instead, he put on the sweetest smile he had and used his most teeth rotting tone.

"You're right, of course. I'm so dumb, it's a good thing you're here to think for me." He added a faux-flirty eyelash flutter that had Bill burst out laughing. It was odd hearing the demon laugh in a way that wasn't sinister or in response to something terrifying. Wirt liked it

"Oh, Pilgrim," Bill said after he got himself under control. "Laying it on a bit thick there, aren'tcha?"

"Maybe just a tad." He smiled wider than he remembered ever doing in Bill's company. A detail from yesterday made the expression freeze on his face. The crying, a young tree.

Bill raised an eyebrow before glancing at something beyond Wirt's field of vision. "Do you wanna know?"

Wirt wanted to say no and move on but it wasn't a real option. He nodded, no longer smiling.

"Just so you know, there could be a tree there for other reasons. Trees sprout all the time," Bill said, searching Wirt's face for a reaction.

Wirt just nodded again, more or less acknowledging what Bill said. He had a point. It could be a coincidence. It didn't prove anything.

Bill sighed and got up, brushing off Dipper's pants. He offered Wirt a hand. "Come on, Pilgrim, we're done here." Pulling Wirt up with a surprising ease, Bill turned back towards the Shack, not letting go of Wirt's hand. Wirt got the feeling it was more so he wouldn't ran off again than for comfort but he took what he could.


	8. Falling Back

Dipper was there with him when Wirt looked up local mental health care practitioners. Wirt called a couple of them to ask some questions and settled on one to make an appointment with. It was the next day, much to his surprise. It was outside the town, but still in the middle of nowhere so they probably didn't get that many customers. That, or Wirt had sounded particularly bad.

He wasn't thrilled. Running away in search of an alternative to therapy only to end up in therapy wasn't ideal.

And Dipper was acting strange. He thought Wirt didn't notice the sad, pained glances, the new drive for research. The increase in his interest in The Unknown and the decrease in questions about Wirt's personal life. Dipper spent more time communicating with Bill, falling into a sort of trans state, and less time talking to Wirt. In the forest, Dipper had realized something that made him distance himself. There was a secret he was keeping. It ate at them.

Dipper was sitting in the living room. His eyes were closed, surrounded by papers, books, and the mugs and plates Wirt had brought him throughout the day in hopes of feeding him and keeping him hydrated. There wasn't much else Wirt could do, besides answering questions. He read some of the books and wrote about hid frustration. At least he was getting a lot of writing done.

Movement in the corner of his eye alerted him that Dipper was getting up.

"Making any progress?" Wirt asked. Dipper looked like he was searching for something specific.

"Yeah," he replied while going through a disorganized pile of notes.

Wirt waited for him to elaborate. He didn't.

"Dipper," Wirt tried with no reaction. This was ridiculous. "Dipper!"

Dipper dropped what he was doing and turned to Wirt, startled.

"What's going on?" The annoyance was clear in Wirt's voice.

Dipper looked to the side, hesitated. "Nothing."

"Really."

"What makes you think something's going on?" Dipper asked, fidgeting with his pen, poised to make a note but all his papers were strewn around the room and all he had was the armrest.

"You're in the same room, talking to me while avoiding me."

"I am?"

"Yes!"

The conversation was going nowhere. Dipper wasn't looking at him, as though the lint on the chair was far more interesting. Wirt got up. "If you don't want to talk about it, fine. I'm going to bed early." It was eight.

"I think I might've made this worse for you," Dipper blurted out before Wirt had time to leave.

Wirt paused. "What do you mean?"

"You were doing a better job resisting the beast before Bill and me got involved," Dipper explained, quilt wrecked, still not quite facing Wirt. "I think your positive exposure to the supernatural might've given the piece of the beast firmer hold on your mind."

Wirt took a moment to process the new situation. It was true that things had escalated after meeting Dipper, and by extension Bill, and he did feel more at peace with the proceedings. He had thought that was because he was getting help.

"How do you know this isn't just how these things go?" Wirt challenged. He had recently discovered that Dipper had a habit of beating himself up over things going wrong and he wasn't about to just stand there and let it happen.

"I don't," Dipper admitted. "If this was a straight up possession, I'd know exactly what to do. I'm an expert on that field, but this," he gestured at Wirt. "I don't know how to classify, honestly. It's a fragment and it's attached and yes, it's making you do things but it's more than just that." Dipper ran a hand through his hair, looking apologetic. "It's like with Bill. When he's possessing me, it takes a level of co-operation for him to get into somebody else's head. This, this is a bit like that."

The forest was welcoming. "You think I want this?

Dipper got up, approaching Wirt with caution. "Not exactly." When he reached Wirt, he placed gentle hands on Wirt's shoulders. Wirt hadn't noticed that he was shaking until he stopped.  
"You told me that the forest felt like home, that it was a place where you knew what you were doing. I think you want that stability."

Wirt felt empty. At least now he that there was always someone to fill that void. A small, unhinged laugh escaped him.

"This is great," he said, rubbing his temple. "Bill's right, I am a mess."

"I'm sorry."

The apology brought Wirt back to himself. They couldn't both wallow in self-pity. He pulled Dipper closer by the waist. "I don't blame you, alright? Not for any of this," he said. "And I refuse to believe that you've made this worse by trying to help."

Dipper looked skeptical but didn't comment. Wirt gave him a gentle shake. "You've done your best, I can't ask for more than that."

"I still feel like I need to do more," Dipper confessed. Somehow, Wirt got the impression he wasn't just talking about this case. Not knowing how else to comfort him, Wirt drew Dipper to him and held on. He wished he was better at words of reassurance but Dipper seemed to accept the physical form fine.

Wrapping his arms around Wirt, Dipper took a shaky breath. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you," he said. "I... I really care about you, and I know we haven't known each other for long but I feel like I know you, you know?"

Wirt smiled at the awkward wording. "I know. I care about you, too." He felt it every time he noticed Dipper hadn't eaten, when he was relieved to hear the click of a seat belt whenever they drove somewhere, when Dipper's eyes lit up with realization over a book. It was too early to call it love, but it was something.

"But from now on tell me if there's something you discover, even when you think I won't like it. Especially if you think I won't like it." There was no way he would let his situation come between him and Dipper.

"Alright," Dipper sighed. Wirt raised a suspicious eyebrow and Dipper relented. "Really, I will. I swear, no secrets," he said, amending, "regarding this case."

"Regarding this case?"

"Yeah, I have this thing called client-investigator confidentiality. It means that I can't tell you everything about everything I'm working on." Dipper kept on a serious face for a while before cracking. "Ok, so I already break it all the time with Bill and he'll probably tell you all my most secret secrets just to mess with me anyway, so." He shrugged.

Wirt smiled and gave Dipper's hips a squeeze. A yawn broke through; he hadn't realized he was tired.

"If you seriously need sleep, I can wrap up here already," Dipper said, moving to gather up his things into a pile Wirt assumed had some sense to it.

"You don't need to stop. I can put myself to bed."

"Uh, actually," Dipper rubbed the back of his neck, a slight bush on his cheeks. "I'd feel better if we slept together." For a second, he looked horrified and hurried to correct himself, "I mean, in the same bed, or the same room at least, with both of us asleep, in the same space. I'd know if you left during the night, that's all!"

By the end of the explanation Dipper was so red Wirt had trouble holding back a laugh. He hid it with a cough but could tell from Dipper's wide eyed horror that he wasn't successful.

Wirt held up a placating hand. "Sorry, it's just." He paused to collect himself. "I'll sleep with you." He grinned. "In the same, I mean, or the same room, with both of us asleep. Just so you'll know if I leave during the night."

Dipper crossed his arms with a pout. "Now you're just mocking me. Why is everyone I'm involved with a jerk?"

"Clearly, you have a type."

They decided to use Dipper's bed. After some awkward shifting and turning, Wirt ended up with Dipper's arms around him, facing the wall. He was out like a light.

In the morning things ran smoother. Dipper was gone by the time Wirt got up but upon further sleepy investigation, he wasn't father than the writing desk facing the attic window. Wirt closed his eyes and buried himself back in the pillow.

Later that day, Wirt went to see the therapist. Dipper offered to accompany him but Wirt refused. For some reason Dipper insisted on drawing a triangle with an eye on the back of Wirt's hand. For safety, Dipper explained. It made Wirt feel like he was being watched.

He scratched at it absent mindedly through the appointment. They went over the basics of his situation and talked about his feelings and thoughts on the matter. It wasn't anything he hadn't gone over before. It left him frustrated.

Before long, the forty-five minutes were up and Wirt left with a new appointment time. It was an hour's drive back to Gravity Falls. He felt drained. All of his old worries and grievances were dragged back to the surface. He debated stopping at a gas station to get coffee but decided not to. He would rather be able to sleep when he got back.

There were times when his eyes drooped, almost falling shut. After the third time, he drove to a rest stop on the side of the road. He just needed some fresh air to get himself awake.

Exiting the car, Wirt stretched his arms, taking a deep breath. He was around the half way point. The forest surrounded the road. A truck sped by. Wirt took the car keys and started to walk to the other end of the rest area.

Without noticing, he continued farther than that.  
_

"Are you sure you don't want a peek?" Bill asked.

Dipper was perched on a book, floating through space. Despite having talked things out with Wirt, he couldn't help but feel off. He was banging his head against a wall with the research and as much as he enjoyed Wirt's company, he was a distraction.

And he felt bad about giving Bill a window into Wirt's therapy session. It was to make sure Wirt was safe, Dipper justified.

"No Bill, that's private."

"Which is why you want me to spy on him," Bill said, crossing his hands behind the top of his shape and resting by Dipper's head.

"I just want him safe," Dipper muttered. The excuse for a breach of privacy was flimsy, he didn't need Bill to point it out. He knew the demon didn't care; Bill was just as curios about the going-ons of Wirt's life and had even less of a problem with spying. Bill only give Dipper crap about it because it amused him.

"Yeah, yeah, you're super over-protective."

"Considering everything that's happened, I'm exactly the right amount of protective." Wirt had gotten in trouble while asleep at the Shack. If he didn't need protecting, Dipper didn't know who did. "Do you see anything unusual?"

Bill waved him off. "They're just talking, nothing we didn't already know."

They continued floating in the shared dream. Dipper spotted a couple of titles among the giant space books he recognized. It was dull by his standards, but then, maybe his brain was tired. He would much rather dream about Wirt. Perhaps one where he had the guts to tell Wirt that he was falling in love with him. A glance at Bill told him that the demon was smiling. Dipper smiled, too. The circumstances might be terrible but Wirt was pretty great.

"Pine Tree?" Bill interrupted the thought. "I need your body for a bit. Something came up."

"What is it?"

"Don't worry about it," Bill said, snapping his fingers. A hole formed in the space in front of them and Bill hovered to it. "You sleep, this won't take long." He disappeared through the hole, leaving Dipper to sit on a floating book alone.

Dipper contemplated waking up to see what Bill was up to. He was curios but his mind needed rest.

He ended up drifting in and out of wakefulness. Bill walking somewhere, more flying books, a door creaking open, a nebula that looked like a mug.

A thought of Wirt made a book title his face fly by. Dipper sat back and enjoyed the view.

Bill was no doubt doing something legally questionable but Dipper drew the line at murder and this looked more like theft. He left the demon to his own devices in favor of rest.

Time passed differently so he had no idea how long he spent staring into space. When he woke up, he would forget about most of it. The parts with Bill always remained, the rest fuzzy like a dream should be.

Bill finished his business and joined him in a flash.

"You didn't leave my body on the floor, right?" Dipper asked. "I had the worst back ache the last time."

"Nah, that was from the heavy lifting," Bill replied but got serious when Dipper kept staring at him, unimpressed. "I put it to bed. Have a little faith in me, Pine Tree."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Fine, but next time lift with my feet."

Bill glowed like he was about to say something before going still and dull. "That's weird."

"What is?"

"Pilgrim just got out of his car and walked into the woods."

Dipper jumped up so fast he woke up.  
_

Wirt walked. A branch slashed his cheek in passing but it made no difference. He had to get away. Confused, he stopped to think about the why. There was nothing after him, no danger in going back but there was. And the forest was tranquil and safe. It was the place he belonged.

He shook his head. That wasn't right. There was somewhere else, someone else.

But looking at the trees reminded him that wasn't quite right. He was content right where he was. What else did he need but the forest? It was lush and full of evergreens, endless.

Wirt stopped and looked up. The trees around him were too tall and thick for the sunlight to reach him. It didn't matter; he would find light. The longer he stayed the more the worlds beyond the forest faded. A chill ran through the woods and he shook with it. His limbs felt heavy.

The light was slowly fading.

"Wirt!"

He turned towards the voice. It was familiar. Somewhere closer to home, a pine tree swayed in the wind.

"Dipper?" His voice was hoarse, his joints felt stiff when he took a step towards the approaching figure.

Dipper slowed to a walk as he neared Wirt, reaching out. "What are you doing?" he asked. His hand hovered, hesitant, before brushing Wirt's cheek. "You're bleeding."

Wirt stared, still as the trees.

"Wirt please talk to me," Dipper pleaded, gripping Wirt by the arms. The warmth of his hands penetrated the thin shield of Wirt's sweater.

He blinked. The movement of his limbs felt smoother as Wirt lowered his head to rest on Dipper's shoulder. The position was awkward and he was sure he got some blood on Dipper's shirt but he didn't care. It was more important to be warm again. He pulled Dipper against him.

"Shit, man, you're freezing." Dipper shivered but let himself be held. "We need to get back to the car, I have a blanket there."

Wirt nodded and croaked out an ok without making a move to let go.

Dipper was silent for a moment, rubbing Wirt's back to get him warm. "So uh, as much as I like this whole being close to you thing, we need to get moving." He took a small step back and Wirt followed. They continued like that until Wirt came back to himself enough to let go. Dipper held him against his side the rest of the way. It took a while but they made it back to the rest stop. Dipper dug through Wirt's pockets for the keys and upon finding them, pushed Wirt into the passenger seat.  
"There's no way I'm letting you drive like this. We can just come back for mine later."

The car sped by the trees, Wirt stared. He didn't know how to feel about what happened. He reached out and placed his hand on Dipper's arm. It rooted him.

"Thank you," he whispered, unsure if it carried past the sounds of the car. Dipper must have heard him because he choked back,

"Of course." He kept his eyes on the road. "You really scared me, man."

"I always scare you."

Dipper glanced at him. It was almost dark out.

"I'm sick of this," Wirt said, closing his eyes. He was tired.

"I'll figure it out," Dipper reassured.

"I don't think it's for you to figure out." Every step he took to run from this was a step closer to The Beast.

"What do you mean?"

Wirt sighed. "Just get us home, ok? We can talk about this in the morning." He caught the flash of a smile on Dipper's face and realized he had just reffed to the Shack as home.

Was it? Wirt had seen more of it in the past few days than he had his apartment, and while he hesitated calling any part of Gravity Falls home, the Shack came the closest. Though, it wasn't as much the location as it was the person.

Wirt glanced at his left. Dipper had come to his rescue, again.

"Hey," he tested his voice. It sounded close enough to normal. "How did you find me?"

"Oh, uh," Dipper looked torn. "Bill can see better through his likeness."

Wirt touched the triangle on his hand. Now that he was warm and safe, he was also capable of feeling angry. "You got him to spy on me?"

"Well, I mean, he's always watching, that just makes it easier for him to hone in on single people or places."

"But you got him to spy on me?" Wirt knew he was just repeating the same question but he was prepared to do it until he got a straight answer.

Dipper focused on the road. "Yes. It came in handy, though. It would've taken me longer to realize something was wrong and then even longer to find you."

"You could've told me that's what it's for."

"I know, I'm sorry."

The apology didn't help his anger much. "Yesterday you promised me there'd by no more secrets, and then you go and-"

"I know!" Dipper interrupted. "I remember what I promised," he continued, calmer. "I'm sorry for not being forward with you about it but I refuse to apologize for doing it. It saved you, I'm not sorry for that."

Wirt couldn't fault his reasoning. It hurt that Dipper hadn't trusted him with the information but Wirt knew Dipper was right. It had saved him. Instead of escalating the argument, Wirt sat in silence through the drive.

At the Shack, he meant to go to sleep in his assigned room. Dipper took him by the arm. Wirt spent a moment staring at his door, stubborn, before turning to Dipper.

"Please," Dipper said, guiding Wirt towards the staircase. Wirt went.

Settling down, Dipper was hesitant to touch him. Wirt faced the wall, he could feel the mattress shift as Dipper hovered over him, as though contemplating draping himself on Wirt like a human shield. Like the threat came from the outside.

Wirt understood that Dipper was scared. He understood fear as a motivator; it had been his main one all his life. So he scooted back until he was close enough to feel Dipper's warmth. He both felt and heard the relieved exhale.

"I should have just told you."

Wirt rolled on his back, effectively putting himself under Dipper whose arm held up his torso.

"Yes. I wouldn't have liked it, but I would've understood."

Dipper used his free hand to brush hair out of Wirt's face. The look of adoration was so much better than that of concern. Right then, Wirt knew what he needed to do. He couldn't go on and let Dipper fear for him.

"Let's sleep," Wirt said, pulling Dipper down to join him. "I'm sure we'll feel better in the morning."

After Dipper had settled partly on him, Wirt waited for his breathing to even out. He wasn't sure how this worked so he brought his marked hand closer to his face while whispering in Dipper's ear.

"Bill?" And then, as loud as he dared, "Bill, I need your help."


	9. Break Through

There was a silence after he spoke, a moment where he felt stupid. Then, Dipper's body stirred.

"Isn't this nice," Bill said into Wirt's chest. He turned his head so that his chin rested on Wirt and he could look him in the eye. "All warm and snuggled up." He smirked. "And then you go and call your other partner behind your partner's back."

Wirt felt a flash of quilt but pushed it aside. "I realize this is a bit shady, but I don't want Dipper involved." A thought. "He's not listening in, is he?"

"Nah, if you want shady, you've definitely called the right entity. Shady is practically my middle name."

Wirt couldn't help but grin a little. "Your name is Bill Shady Cipher?"

Bill grinned back. "At your service. Gotta admit it has a certain ring to it."

"Definitely."

It was so easy to slip into casual banter now that they officially didn't hate each other. Though, Wirt supposed hate had never been the problem, it had been more about distrust on his end. A prejudice against demons that Bill hadn't helped, at first. Now he had no choice but to admit that they were on the same side. Bill was the particular kind of weird Wirt could appreciate.

"I need you to help me back into my subconscious," Wirt stated. The thought of roots and branches in that hallway frightened him, but so did seeing Dipper scared and concerned.

Bill quirked a brow. "I can do that, but," he held up a finger, "in exchange you have to make up with Pine Tree." He poked Wirt's nose. "And deal with the aftermath of doing this behind his back but that goes without saying."

"I thought we did make up," Wirt said.

"I mean properly. None of this acting all mellowed out and then calling me once you think you can get away with it."

They stared each other down. Wirt felt like he had the disadvantage seeing how he was the one lower and how Bill wasn't wrong. Perhaps he was a bit peeved. In any case, Wirt didn't want to argue the point.

"Alright," he promised. "I'll talk to him like a real adult and work this out." He could feel nerves claw at his insides. "Please, can we just do this."

Bill studied him, mulling it over. Then he wiggled to get more comfortable. "Ok, let's 'do this'." The same hand he used for air-quotes landed on Wirt's forehead. "Night, Pilgrim."

The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of his gray toned childhood home. The house creaked and groaned. A window was broken. Wirt swallowed his nerves and went in.

Bill popped into existence next to him. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

Wirt hesitated. "Um, sort of?" He didn't. He hadn't thought beyond going in there and comforting whatever he found. There was a branch growing through a crack of the door to his subconsciousness. Wirt wished he had brought a match.

Bill dipped his shape forward in a nod. "Fire is always a good solution," he said, sagely. "As long as it doesn't burn down the whole house."

Right. Wirt pushed the door open the rest of the way. Roots covered the floor, dead leaves fell from the ceiling. A chill traveled down the hallway and as reluctant as he was to do so, Wirt followed it.

It was slow going, stumbling over the roots, but he reached the end of the hallway and the pair of glowing eyes.

He wanted to run.

"I want you to leave," he said, voice wavering. The yellow glow in his peripheral was the only hint Bill was still with him. The demon was silent.

"You're too lost," The Beast spoke. "You've rooted me deep. I can't leave."

Wirt shivered both from cold and fear. "Y-you're just trying to trick me again." There it was; like he wanted this, like this was all voluntary. It was his fault that this had escalated the way it had. If he hadn't ran away from his problems, if he had admitted to them sooner, he wouldn't be so deep in this mess. His subconscious wouldn't look like and old, withering forest.

"Oh but don't you remember how it felt to walk in the woods?"

He did. The rays of sunlight filtering through the foliage, the calm certainty. It was unlike he had ever felt before.

"But that wasn't really me," Wirt said, though it lacked conviction.

The eyes in front of his shifted. "It was more you than you realize. You have a talent for solitude."

Wirt took a step back, tripping on a tree root and falling back. It felt like moving in slow motion.

"Let me show you something," The Beast said.

A startled yelp echoed in the hallway before a door slammed in his face and he landed on snow. Bill was no longer with him, he was alone in a blizzard. The door vanished the moment it shut. Cold bit into him and even though Wirt knew he wasn't physically there, the frost felt real. He got up and wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to conserve warmth.

In the distance, he saw a small figure walking against the wind. After a moment of hesitation, Wirt started to journey towards them. In heavy snow he wasn't going much faster than the figure but he was slowly gaining on them. He could make out a red hat and a cape.

It was younger him.

He could remember the wind and the cold but this wasn't how it had happened, all those years ago. This wasn't a memory.

The figure, the him, wasn't far away now. Wirt thought about calling out to him. What would be the point? Could younger him even hear him? He knew with absolute certainty that younger him would freak out if he saw older him in a snow storm, following him. So he refrained.

There was a light. Young Wirt walked towards it, past a lump in the snow. The distance between them grew and despite picking up the pace, Wirt couldn't regain it. Younger him grew smaller and smaller until he disappeared in a flash.

Wirt stopped, confused and out of breath. Now what?

The lump in the otherwise even snow caught his attention again and he made his way towards it.  
The closer he got, the more it became evident that it wasn't just a rock or a tree stump. It was a small, plump boy.

Wirt ran the last couple of steps and landed on his knees in the snow. He wiped frost off the tiny body, calling out to him with no response. The teakettle his brother had used for his elephant costume just within reach. It was freezing to the touch. If only they had a fire or...

The nightmare where Greg had burned flashed, vivid and horrifying, through his mind. No fire.

He looked down at the teakettle in his hands, helpless. An image showed on the frozen surface. It was him, holding hands with Sara, then him signing a book what must have been a hundredth time with how much ease he did it, and him, holding a small child, smiling. Happy, like he had forgotten everything that led up to it, like he had forgotten Greg.

He placed the teakettle in the snow. Greg was pale and blue. Wirt covered his body with his own and sobbed for a life he could have had.

"Wirt!"

The shout echoed through the landscape. When Wirt lifted his head, there was a door, open with a figure silhouetted in a soft yellow glow. He was slow to recognize it was Dipper with Bill hovering behind him. The cold made it hard to move, hard to think.

"Wirt, I know you still think I was a jerk but I need you to come to me," Dipper yelled. He sounded desperate.

"I can't leave Greg," Wirt croaked, feeling drowsy. It would be a hassle to move, he would much rather sleep.

"He's not real," Dipper called. "Greg is safe where you left him. He's grown up and happy because you already saved him!" He turned to Bill and it looked like they had an exchange but Wirt couldn't make out what was said. At the end of it, Dipper nodded, and shot Wirt an apologetic look. Bill extended his arms until they wrapped around Wirt and pulled.

"No!" He tried clinging to Greg's body but his hands slipped on the snow covered clothes and he was lifted back into the hallway. Once there, Dipper pushed the door shut and knelt by him. Bill's thin arms unwound and were replaced by Dipper's warm ones. Wirt shook, sat on a tree root.

"Hey, shh," Dipper hushed, brushing snow off Wirt and rubbing warmth back into him. "That wasn't real, that's not how it went. Greg's safe."

"You're right," Wirt choked out once he found his words again. The shaking subsided. "That's not what happened. In there, I walked out and became happy."

Dipper stopped what he was doing and aimed a helpless look at Bill. The demon shrugged, equally clueless.

"But in real life you didn't!" he settled on. Dipper frowned.

"Wow. Helpful.

Bill threw his arms in the air. "What do you want from me? You know I suck at emotions."

"You're right." Dipper held up a placating hand, turning back to Wirt. "What Bill means in that you didn't leave your brother to die, you wouldn't."

"Ah, but that room is there for a reason," The Beast spoke. Both Bill and Dipper turned to him but Wirt was too tired to.

"I will find a way to get rid of you," Dipper promised. Wirt found it in himself to move at that. He searched out Dipper's eyes until they turned back to him.

"No, you won't," Wirt said with new determination. Greg died in the snow while he walked away in the depths of his mind. It was horrible, but he had known it was there. In the darkest corners of his mind where he tried to bury everything he hated about himself.

Wirt pushed himself up. "I'm doing this so you don't have to," he explained to the confused and pained Dipper. "I can't watch you run yourself to the ground for me. And yes, I'm still angry with you. I trusted you and you went behind my back. So I guess me doing this behind yours is some kind of twisted payback because apparently I'm awful." Wirt made a short, angry gesture at the door.

Dipper looked like Wirt had just struck him. "That's not-" Bill interrupted him with a hand on his shoulder. Wirt didn't pay much attention to their silent exchange, turning to the beast.

"You're the worst at turning people to the darkside, you know that, right? I tried to get help for nightmares so you made me go on calming nature walks. Seriously?"

The beast said nothing. Wirt heard doors open behind him. They were slammed shut just as quickly by Dipper who was clearing away the leaves and branches in the doorways and on the signs above them.

"I get that you're trying to use my mind against me but there's nothing in here I haven't beaten myself up over and over. You can't hurt me more than I hurt me. So throw more selfish desires and inner most fears at me!" In a rare show of aggression, Wirt kicked a tree root. Doors kept opening and slamming shut behind him.

"You have to most horrible things in here but you haven't made much progress in corrupting me," Wirt pointed behind him. "You know why I think that is?" he asked with confidence he didn't feel. He balled his shaking hands into fists and closed his eyes. "Because I'm already worse than you!"

Everything went silent except for the groaning of the roots around him as they gathered and rose up to form a cage of wood between Wirt and the beast. He could hear Dipper calling to him, so he turned away from the glowing eyes of one of his childhood boogiemen. "You can't leave? Fine. Stay. You're not even the worst thing in here."

He was enveloped in a hug, he could feel a tiny hand in his hair. Words were exchanged and the world around him faded.

In reality, he was still lying on his back In Dipper's bed with Dipper looking down at him. Wirt blinked, trying to clear the fuzz from his mind. He heard Dipper speak but it was distant, like he wasn't fully awake. Closing his eyes, Wirt waited for his senses to come back.

"You're a fucking idiot." Dipper's voice sounded broken. Wirt agreed; that could have gone horribly wrong. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't want you worrying about me anymore," Wirt confessed in a whisper. He didn't feel like opening his eyes yet.

Dipper snorted. "Well, you did an excellent job on that one."

Wirt smiled a little despite feeling awful. Sarcasm was better than tears. "Sorry."

"Imagine how calm I was when Bill came to get me, yanked me right out of a great dream about a book tour, you were there too, it was amazing," Dipper was babbling now. "Told me you could probably use, and I quote, 'some moral support', the asshole, and explained what was up. I was so collected, you should've seen me totally not panic."

Somewhere during the tale, Wirt had opened his eyes. Dipper's were wet around the edges. "Alright, I get it. I did a stupid thing," Wirt piped up when it looked like Dipper was going to go on. "Hey, imagine a situation where Bill is the sensible one."

That got a laugh. It sounded like Dipper was taken by surprise. "Yeah, just picture all the dumb choices everyone involved has to make in order for that to happen."

"What complete morons."

The laughter that followed was like the one you have after an accident or a near-death experience, high and relieved. It was Dipper that sobered up first. He searched Wirt's face, no longer smiling.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I guess I should thank you and Bill for coming to my rescue but beyond that," Wirt trailed off. He hadn't thought about after.

Dipper picked at the sheet, eyes falling away from Wirt's face. "Continue therapy?"

Wirt thought about how the beast was still there, diminished, less meaningful, and about why that was. He nodded, solemn. "Continue therapy."

Dipper mirrored him. "Let me drive you there and back next time?

"Alright." Wirt wondered if Dipper had asked if he was staying in such a round-about way on purpose. He didn't even need to think about it. The strange town would take some getting used to but that was where Dipper and Bill were, so that was where he wanted to be. He owed his family a visit but it could wait. Maybe he would bring Dipper.

As the mind fog started to clear, Wirt pushed himself up. Dipper accommodated him by moving back.

"How are you feeling?"

Wirt rubbed his forehead like chasing away an imaginary headache. "Dizzy," he said, blinking at Dipper in order to bring him to focus. "My vision's a bit blurry."

"Hmm." Dipper's hand replaced Wirt's and he narrowed his eyes, looking Wirt over. "You're not feverish, and there's no damage I can see, but take it easy for tonight. See how you're feeling in the morning."

"I don't really feel like sleeping, after," Wirt made a vague hand wave to mean what he had just done.

"We can watch a movie or something?" Dipper made to move off the bed but Wirt reached for his hand to pull him back.

"Look, I... I shouldn't have gone about that the way I did. I was stupid and angry." Wirt paused to give the hand a squeeze. "I should've at least ran it by you first."

Dipper's smile was strained. "If you had, I would've told you not to do it. It's risky, to go in and tamper with stuff. But I was an idiot with the Bill thing, too. I don't know why I didn't just tell you." His eyes went to their joined hands. "You know I think you're great right?" he said, voice small.

Taken back, nothing came out when Wirt opened his mouth to speak.

"I mean, you're nice and considerate but when you need it, you have enough sass to rival Bill, which is honestly impressive." Finding whatever courage he needed, Dipper face Wirt again. "You're a good person."

"Dipper," Wirt didn't know how to continue. He settled on a simple, "Thank you," and a warm smile. "I think you're great, too."

Dipper ducked his head, but not before Wirt caught his pleased expression. "Yeah, well, I hope you still think so when you see my collection of crappy horror movies." He got up, pulling Wirt with him.

Before the first half of Zombie In Space was over, Dipper was sound asleep against Wirt. Lured into a sense of calm by Dipper's steady breathing, Wirt jumped at the hand petting his knee.

"Good job, Pilgrim," Bill spoke. Wirt relaxed again, letting his head rest against Bill's.

"Was it? It felt a little anti-climactic," Wirt confessed. He felt weird about having the beast still in there, even though it lacked the feeling of foreboding it once had. His head was clear.

He felt Bill shrug. "Things don't always go out with a bang, the solution isn't always the ideal one and so on."

Wirt snorted. "You're really half-assing this being comforting thing."

"I'm not comforting, I'm diabolical," Bill said and snuggle deeper into Wirt's side.

"Of course you are." He felt agreeable and warm, sleep catching up to him.

"I scheme better like this."

Wirt leaned more heavily into the warm body next to him, eyelids drooping. The movie had reached what seemed like its second climax, the zombie fodder mindlessly running around. He had stopped paying attention a good while back. "What sort of schemes?"

Bill let out a content exhale. "By the time you find out, it'll be too late."

Wirt fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: That's it. Thank you for reading :)


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